Work to turn former pub into flats set to start

Plans to turn the former Oxford Inn on Roman Road, Taunton, into flats were first revealed in 2020

Work to turn a former pub into new council houses will soon be under way, years after it was first announced.

Somerset West and Taunton Council first revealed plans to demolish The Oxford Inn on Roman Road, Taunton, and replace it with 11 low-cost flats in 2020.

Revised plans, which now include eight homes estimated to cost just under £2.3m including contingencies, were approved for the derelict site back in November 2022.

Somerset Council, which replaced the district council in April 2023, has now announced the contractor to carry out the work, with the project due to begin in October.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the delivery of the scheme has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing phosphates crisis, with housing developments needing to secure additional mitigation to prevent damage to the Somerset Levels and Moors.

A council spokesperson said: “The Oxford Inn scheme has been revised and will now deliver eight new zero carbon homes to be let at an affordable rent."

“While the number of homes has been reduced by three [from the original plans], two of the flats have increased in size from one bedroom to two," they added.

Each of the new flats will be built as zero carbon housing, using similar methods to the council houses being delivered at the Rainbow Way site in Minehead.

Around half of the cost of the project will be met using right to buy receipts (from the sale of existing council houses), with the other half coming from borrowing – which was agreed within the council’s capital programme in February.

The council is expected to name its chosen contractor once the statutory ‘standstill period’ has concluded and is expecting the work to be completed by December 2025.