Thousands flock to put names down for Olympics rental homes

More than 17,000 people have registered interest in the 2,800 apartments in the former Olympic Village in Stratford, east London.

This is despite the fact that rents will not be made known until May and the homes themselves will not start to be ready for occupation until August.

Around two-thirds of the homes are due to be for rent at a mixture of social housing and market rates, but the co-owner of the scheme said he was tempted to hang on to all the private properties and let them out.

The boss of the Qatari Diar Delancey consortium, which owns half the complex, said they would not market the properties to wealthy foreign investors.

Stuart Corbyn said: “Lots of people have made inquiries. Perceptions of Stratford have changed since Westfield opened, although people still don’t understand how good the transport links are. There will be a lot of attraction to us to retain all 1,400 apartments and let them, certainly for several years to come.”

Most of the apartments are large flats aimed at families who will be offered longer tenancies of typically three years.

Corbyn said: “We would encourage longer tenancies because they will make a home there, which is good for them and the village, and for us as it avoids churn.”

The other half of the scheme, consisting of 1,379 apartments, is owned by the housing association Triathlon Homes of which 675 will be social housing with shared ownership and shared equity opportunities.

QDD also owns six other sites at the former Olympic Village with potential for a further 2,000 homes on the 70-acre site, including planning permission for a 50-storey tower block.