Olympic accommodation attracts Londoners

More than 17,000 people have shown interest in renting the 2,800 apartments in the ex-Olympic village in east London.

The Qatari Diar Delancy consortium, which owns half of the complex, has said that it will encourage young London families to rent the apartments, although it has been criticised for marketing the homes abroad even before the Olympics were over.

All the properties are to be handed over in August for conversion from the Olympic accommodation to residential housing, and all work should be completed six months later.

Rents will not be set until May but it is thought that they will be lower than in nearby Canary Warf. The typical rental period is likely to be three years.

Qatari Diar Delancy bought half of the Olympic village from the Olympic Delivery Authority in 2011 for £557 million. It has also committed to build another 2,000 units on the adjoining land.

The other half of the Olympic complex is owned by Triathlon housing association and part of its 1,379 apartments will go for social housing and shared ownership schemes. Allocation of the Triathlon apartments has already started.

Qatari Diar, which is the property investment arm of Qatari sovereign wealth fund, has just announced that it is reviewing its development of Chelsea Barracks in the heart of London because of the present international economic climate. It is thought that it may even be considering selling the prime site, located between King’s Road and the embankment in Chelsea.

Qatari Diar also financed London’s tallest building, The Shard, which was inaugurated last year, but so far no corporate rentals have been secured for the large amount of office space in the building.