Olympic Village snapped up by Qatari ruling family for £557m [View All]

[dipsydoodle]

London's Olympic Village has been sold to the Qatari ruling family's property company in a deal that leaves UK taxpayers £275m out of pocket.

Qatari Diar, the oil-rich state's investment arm, and UK property developer Delancey Estates teamed up to buy the athletes' village next to the Olympic Park in east London for £557m.

After the 2012 Olympic Games, the village will be converted into a neighbourhood with 2,818 homes, including 1,000 family homeswith three or four bedrooms. The rest of the properties range from studio flats to five-bedroom apartments. The area will also include a schoolwith 1,800 places for children aged three to 19, shops, bars, clinics and parks.

The Olympic Delivery Authority, which sold the site, had already sold 1,379 of the residences in the 11 blocks of the athletes' village to Triathlon Homes for £268m in 2009. They will become affordable housing such as shared ownership or socially rented apartments.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/aug/12/olympic-village-qatari-ruling-family

Fuck losing £275m. The social benefits of the whole £832 million would be much greater by turning the whole lot over to London Borough if Newham as affordable housing.