New Flats Above The Kings Arms Community Hub
Falcon Rural Housing Ltd is delighted to announce that four newly refurbished flats in Wellington are expected to become available for rent in Autumn 2026.
The development consists of a mixture of 1 and 2 bedroom flats, providing much needed affordable housing for people with a strong local connection and housing need. We have decided to name the flats after the landlord’s with the longest tenures and have named the access to the flats “King’s Arms Court”.
Anyone wishing to be considered for one of these homes must be registered with Homefinder Somerset so they can express an interest when the properties are advertised. Applicants can register at www.homefindersomerset.co.uk
As applications can take up to 42 days to be processed, anyone who is not already registered is encouraged to apply as soon as possible to avoid missing out.
In addition to registering with Homefinder Somerset, prospective applicants will require at least a 3 year local connection to Wellington. The definition of a ‘local connection’ is explained in detail below.
Further information, including the official advertising date and how to apply for the individual properties will be released on our website closer to the launch.
If you are looking for affordable housing in Wellington, now is the ideal time to prepare your application by registering with Homefinder Somerset and requesting an application form from our office or via our general email info@falconhousing.co.uk
What Is A Local Connection?
Falcon Rural Housing Limited exists to provide good quality, genuinely affordable, rented housing for those people with strong local connections to their communities. The detail of this is set out in the Association’s current ‘Mission Statement’ and ‘Core Principles’.
The Association’s housing should, in the first instance, be occupied by a person(s) (and their dependents / family) with a proven housing need who cannot afford to rent or buy at market rates in the locality and, who meets one or more of the following criteria:
a) The applicant (or a member of the permanent household as stated on their application) has a minimum period of 3 years’ permanent and continuous residence in the town;
b) The applicant (or a member of the permanent household as stated on the application) is not now resident in the town but has a local connection with the town including a period of permanent residence of 5 years or more within the last 20 years;
c) The applicant has a strong local connection to the town in the form of a close family member living in the town for 5 years or more (close family member means Mother, Father, Son or Daughter and in some cases siblings if the need to live close to them is to give or receive support arising from proven age or medical reasons – documentary evidence of the support must be provided to accompany the application); or
d) The applicant (or a member of the permanent household as stated on the application) needs to live close to their place of work in the town. This criterion applies to permanent employment only and the contract for employment must be over 20 hours per week. The person in employment must also have held the position for over 2 years or have a fixed term contract for a least 2 years.
Note: These criteria are the benchmark set by the Association. The Association reserves the right to use its discretion if requested by either the Local Authority or Town Council and there is reason for the Association to do so.
The Kings Arms Community Hub Development
The Kings Arms Community Hub, located on Wellington High Street, TA21 8NR, occupies the former Kings Arms public house in the centre of Wellington. The former pub closed at the end of 2015 and then stood empty for several years, leaving a prominent town-centre building unused.
In June 2021, we, Falcon Rural Housing, a local housing association, decided to purchase the building with the aim of bringing it back into use. Our plan was to create new social-rented flats on the first and second floors, whilst making the ground floor available as a ‘community space’.
The idea for the ground floor to become a community hub was developed through partnership working between us, Wellington Town Council, Wellington Churches Together, Somerset Council and various other local organisations. The goal was to create a flexible, welcoming space where statutory services, community groups and voluntary organisations could support residents in one accessible town-centre location.
Although the former pub was purchased in mid-2021, the redevelopment took a lot longer than anticipated as the building needed significant structural works to make the ground floor habitable and suitable for public use. The project has also reflected a wider local need: Wellington had lost important community facilities, including youth and children’s provision, so the hub was designed to help fill that gap.
The community hub began operating in July 2025 with a programme of activities for people of different ages, before being officially opened on 30 September 2025. The opening was attended by civic guests, community representatives and local young people who had contributed ideas for how the space should be used.
Today, the Kings Arms Community Hub is intended to be a connected, compassionate and inclusive place for Wellington. It provides space for activities such as youth provision, support sessions, community policing, dementia and memory support, toddler and family groups, cafés and other wellbeing activities. Its role is both practical and social: helping residents find advice, guidance, support and connection close to home.
The Kings Arms Pub Before 2015
Before Falcon Rural Housing purchased the building, it traded as ‘The Kings Arms’, a town-centre public house. Its High Street position meant it formed part of the everyday commercial and social life of the town, alongside other Wellington pubs that have since closed, changed use or in the case of some – still survive to this day.
Available records identify the Kings Arms as one of Wellington’s “lost pubs”, with the address listed as 4 High Street. Pub directories and local listings also record it as the Kings Arms Commercial Hotel or Kings Arms Inn and note that an Inn, in some shape or form has been in operation on the site since the early 1600’s.
One of the clearest surviving memories of the pub is its association with skittles, a traditional West Country pub game and an important part of local social life. In 2023, through the Wellington Weekly Newspaper, Falcon Rural Housing appealed for memories, stories and photographs of the pub and reported that they had already learned the Kings Arms was said to have had the longest skittles alley in Wellington.
The pub appears to have had several layers of use over time. Alongside its role as a public house, hotel and Inn, local recollections collected during the redevelopment suggested that parts of the building had at one stage been used as a tax office, an auction house and even headquarters for the local CTC (Cycle Touring Club) . This points to the building’s wider civic and commercial role in the town centre, though further archival research would be needed to confirm dates and details.
By the early twenty-first century, the Kings Arms was still being identified in pub listings as a venue with real ale, but it later closed as a public house at the end of 2015. After closure it remained empty for several years, which made the later community hub project not only a change of use but also a sympathetic rescue of a prominent historic town-centre building.
The Odd Fellows Connection
One intriguing part of the Kings Arms’ pub history is its link with the ‘Oddfellows’, a friendly society tradition that was once an important part of social and mutual-aid life in towns across Britain.
For over 200 years the Oddfellows has helped its members forge friendships and offered help in times of need.
Today Oddfellows UK membership stands at 318,000 members. This is made up of around 39,000 Branch-based members who are supported by social, care and financial benefits, and 280,600 Insurance members. We also have a national network of 91 branches – unfortunately, Wellington not being one of the surviving ones.
The Oddfellows are “very proud to be a not-for-profit and mutual organisation that believes in a community bonded by friendship, care and charitable support. We know that by bringing people together, we can achieve so much more than we could alone”.
The known evidence for a connection comes from the survival of an historic Oddfellows box associated with the Loyal Pride of Wellington Lodge of Oddfellows (M.U). During the redevelopment of the Kings Arms a large ‘standard’ box was discovered in the loft. Whilst it did not contain any ‘standards’ (organisational flags) the box was in excellent condition, albeit a bit grubby! The boxes discovery suggests a tangible link between the building, or the wider Wellington community around it, and the town’s Odd Fellows tradition.
Through online resources it has been established that the Wellington Lodge of Oddfellows regularly met at the Kings Arms to carry out their charitable objectives – rather fitting therefore that the property has been purchased by a not-for-profit organisation that operates under charitable rules to carry out its charitable objectives!
The Odd Fellows link adds an important layer to the Kings Arms’ story. It shows the importance that the pub was not only a place for drink, food and leisure, but also a venue connected with mutual support, organised fellowship and local civic life. This fits beautifully with the building’s modern role as a community hub, continuing a tradition of bringing people together in the heart of Wellington.