Boris Johnson hails Olympic Village residential neighbourhood as a “great deal for London”.

It has been announced that London’s Olympic Village is to become a new residential neighbourhood after the 2012 Games that will house approximately 5,000 people.

Together with the Housing Association group, Triathlon Homes, which has already agreed to pay £270 million for almost 1,500 houses on the site, in a joint deal, the investment fund Qatari Diar and developers Delancey, are to pay £830 million for a large slice of the east London site.

Talking about the new announcement, the London Mayor said:

“It is another big step towards securing a fantastic future for new neighbourhoods and communities we have always said would be created as a major legacy for the capital after the 2012 Games.”

The new Olympic Village neighbourhood is due to open in 2013 and, as well as comprising of 2,800 new homes – 1,000 of which are to be three and four bedroom family houses -  will also include a school, health centre, restaurants and shops, making it a truly self-contained community.

Most of the new homes are to be let out on a rented basis, with the ownership remaining with the Qatari Diar and Delancey partnership and will create the first private sector residential fund of over 1,000 homes in the UK to be owned and directly managed as an investment.

The Olympic Village cost £1 billion to build and therefore being sold for £830 million it has undergone a considerable loss. Although despite this loss and an almost stagnant property market in London, Boris Johnson has hailed the announcement as a “great deal for London” and a “fantastic future for the new neighbourhood.”