A large part of an historic village pub could be turned into a house of multiple occupation (HMO).

Dan Mahendran has submitted plans to Maidstone council seeking permission to convert the top two floors of the former George pub in Benover Road, Yalding, into a seven-room HMO to accommodate 10 people.

The building had been a pub since at least 1838 but it closed in November 2021 after business nose-dived during Covid.

Mr Mahendran has already been granted permission to convert the ground floor to a convenience store and cafe/fast food takeaway, although so far only the convenience store has opened.

He has also submitted an application to vary the conditions of his first permission, so he can enlarge the retail element and decrease the cafe offering.

That has caused a considerable upset in the village, with many fearing the larger store will have an adverse impact on an existing shop in the village and criticising the smaller hot food offering.

The council has received eight representations and a petition of 234 signatures against the revised plan.

Remarks from Ian Simmons of Oast Court, Yalding, were typical of those the council has been sent.

He said: “The revised plans bear no relation to what was originally approved.

“The owners quite clearly had no intention of following the original plans. The area proposed for restaurant seating is far too small, it is barely enough for a café.”

His remarks were supported by the borough councillor for the area, Cllr Claudine Russell (Con), who said: “There is already an existing planning permission for the site and the applicant should be made to keep to the conditions of that approved planning permission.

“The applicant has deviated from that permission, resulting in enforcement action being taken which has ultimately led to this application.

“It does rather seem as though the applicant is ‘gaming the system’ and progressively applying for permissions that he has no intention of abiding by.”

However, Mr Mahendran is not without his supporters. The council has also received seven representations and a petition of 71 signatories from those welcoming the additional retail space.

Planning officers are recommending approval of the revised application, which can be seen on the borough’s website at tinyurl.com/planningkm under reference number 24/502003.

There have been no public submissions yet to Mr Mahendran’s latest application to convert the upper storeys of The George into an HMO, but Paul Revell, a Yalding resident for 40 years, said: “I think the shop owner really should sort out his original application before putting in another.

“There is a problem with flooding in this part of Yalding, with the River Beult running right behind the former pub’s car park.

“If someone applied for permission to build a new home here for 10 people, it would be refused because of the flooding concerns, so why should an HMO be acceptable?”

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Recent research by KentOnline discovered this county is now home to almost 2,000 HMOs.

Councils have previously had to pay costs when rejecting an HMO application that was subsequently granted at appeal, but there are still occasions when councillors put their foot down.

Last month, councillors went against officers’ advice and rejected an application for an eight-bedroom HMO in Charles Street, Maidstone.

Details of The George HMO application can be found under reference number 24/503344.