ODA downscales Olympic Village

Giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, ODA chief executive David Higgins said 'the impact of the credit squeeze' had forced it to cut the number of apartments built by 900, from 4,200 to about 3,000, reported Building magazine.

He said plans to build a village with spare capacity had to be scrapped and implied that not enough preparation had been done to accommodate the effects of the UK's economic situation.

The news comes as funding for the project still hangs in the balance with Lend Lease struggling to raise its share of equity. The contractor was planning to provide £450m, with £550 coming from the public sector, but now it's feared the entire project will have to be built using public funds.

In more positive news, Building reported that a deal has been struck to set aside part of the Olympic Park site for London construction students to practise building scaled-down projects.

It will be the second site of its kind operated by Constructionarium, which already has a permanent site at the National Construction College near King's Lynn in Norfolk.

According to Constructionarium's scheme manager Robin Holdsworth several universities will take part in an event to be held on the Olympic Park site next year.