The £5.1bn costs are double the £2.38bn estimate stated in the bid document according to The Sunday Times
The cost of building the Olympic Park will come in at £5.1bn - double the original estimate, reported the Sunday Times at the weekend.
The finalised figures reveal that the final budget for the Olympic park will be £2.72bn over the initial estimate of £2.38bn in the bid document.
This figure, drawn up by the ODA, London mayor Ken Livingstone and Olympics minister Tessa Jowell and due out next month, does not include VAT, which could add another £1bn to the cost, the paper said. It is hoped that chancellor Gordon Brown will give the Olympics a VAT exemption.
It also does not include a “contingency” fund that will cover unforeseen rises in cost – thought to be set by the Treasury at between £1bn and £3bn.
But government sources have said the final budget, including security costs, would not be finalised until nearer 2012. Sources say the security bill could be as much as £600m.
The revised Olympic Park masterplan – drawn up by architects Allies & Morrison, Foreign Office Architects, HOK Sport, engineer Buro Happold and masterplanner EDAW – will be submitted for planning permission this week.
It has been redrawn to reflect changes in the plans and to reduce costs.
