Joint venture deal for 1,439 homes and development sites signed

Property investors Delancey and Qatari Diar have signed a deal to buy the athlete’s village and surrounding development sites on the Olympic Park for £557m.

The 27-hectare site in east London includes 1,439 homes and six other plots to be redeveloped after the games finish next year.

Delancey, the developmetn vehicle of entrepreneur Jamie Ritblat, and Qatari Diar, the developer of the Shard and Chelsea Barracks, will work with Triathlon Homes, which has already taken on the affordable homes element of the 2,818-home development. The deal includes surrounding development sites capable of holding a further 2,000 homes.

The Olympic Delivery Authority, which owns the site and has been running the sale process, said the majority of the homes will be let on a rental basis, instead of being sold, with the ownership remaining with the Delancey and Qatari Diar joint venture. This is intended to create the first UK private sector residential fund of over 1,000 homes to be owned and directly managed as an investment

the news comfirms that, as widely expected, Delancey and Qatari Diar had beaten rival bids from Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, as well as a high-profile £1bn proposal from the Wellcome Trust to take over the whole Olympic park.

Jamie Ritblat, chief executive of Delancey, said: “This acquisition reflects the first truly great residential investment opportunity in the UK, offering the chance to break the mould and create a sustainable leasing model.  We are enthusiastic about working to deliver a legacy which will make this and the wider Stratford story one which we can all be proud of, not just within London but on the global stage as well.”

Mohammed bin Ali Al Hedfa, group chief executive of Qatari Diar said: “We are looking forward to working with all those involved to ensure that the Olympic Village becomes a fitting legacy to the London 2012 Olympics, and one that will benefit the local communities.”

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