BIDDING for new social rented flats in Wellington town centre will go live between September 9 and 13.

Wellington-based Falcon Rural Housing Ltd said the four flats above the town’s Kings Arms community hub were expected to become available in early November.

They are the first such properties to come on the market in Wellington in a generation and the housing association anticipates demand for them will be high.

It has been urging local people to register as soon as possible on Somerset Council’s online Homefinder service, because registration can take up to 42 days, and bids for the flats have to be submitted through the website.

Falcon, which has its headquarters in South Street, wants the homes to be occupied only by local Wellington people, those who have lived in the town for at least three years or who have a strong family connection.

A spokesperson said: “If you have registered on Homefinder Somerset but are waiting for your housing application to be approved, please contact us and we can send you one of our application forms.

“They are also available to pick up from the office.”

The spokesperson said once the bidding process had closed, Falcon would then review all the applications and would contact the four who had been successful.

The one and two-bedroom ‘affordable’ flats on the first and second floors of the former public house will be named ‘Kings Arms Court’.

The association said a pub had been the longest-established use of the building, which dates to the 1600s, before it closed for good in 2015.

Falcon bought the empty property in 2021 and first converted the ground floor to a community hub which was taken over by Wellington Town Council, before starting work on the four flats.