THERE are “severe delays” in delivering much-needed council flats on the outskirts of Minehead, Somerset Council has admitted.

The council has been working with its contractor Classic Builders to deliver 54 new council properties on Rainbow Way, near the town’s cricket club and Premier Inn.

The new homes – which are the first new council houses to be built in Minehead for a generation – are being constructed to a high standard with solar panels and air source heat pumps, in order to help keep tenants’ energy bills low.

But the council has now admitted that the first flats within the site won’t be completed until January or February next year, with the remainder not being finished until two months later.

Each of the new houses and flats within Rainbow Way are released onto the council’s Homefinder service as they are completed, with priority being given to those either living in Minehead or having family connections with the local area.

As of early-November, a total of 11 homes within the site had been handed over and occupied by tenants, with a further four expected to be occupied by the end of the month.

The delays with the remaining properties was revealed in a report published before the council’s tenants’ strategic group which met in Taunton on the evening of Monday, November 25.

A Somerset Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately, there is a delay until January to hand over the remaining five houses (including the two chalet bungalows) due to health and safety concerns and the proximity to construction works on the apartment blocks opposite.

“The apartment blocks have suffered severe delays and the first 11 flats are now due to be completed in January or February 2025, and the remaining 22 flats will not be finished until April 2025.”

The council intends to hold another open event within the site on January 21, 2025, allowing potential tenants to have tours of one of the completed flats.

Further details of this open day event are expected to be announced either side of this Christmas.