Member News
23rd October 2012Next spring the first of residents of London’s newest neighbourhood will start to move in.
Part of the London Olympic Games legacy is East Village. The athlete’s village will form the core of a 2,800 home community, of which more than 1,370 have been purchased by Traithlon Homes.
“There will be 700 affordable homes for social rent levels, similar to council levels,” explains Geoff Pearce, development director of East Thames Group.
“The Triathlon homes will be affordable for local community – there will also be over 300 homes for shared ownership and shared equity and over 300 for intermediate rent.”
Triathlon Homes is a joint venture of East Thames, Southern Housing Group and First Base.
The aim is to ensure there are affordable, high quality homes for local people.
“The Olympic Park will be about the size of St James Park, the largest new park in Britain in 100 years and the third largest park in London,” says Mr Pearce.
“It will be a fantastic place to live. Some of the venues such as the basketball arena will also be legacy housing.”
East Village, London E20 will include 10 hectares of open space. It also boasts first-class transport connections, shops, schools, leisure facilities, an advanced medical clinic and of course world-class sports facilities.
There will also be 1,439 open market homes at East Village, the majority of which will be available for private rental.
“Stratford, especially around the sporting venues and the village, is now one of the best connected areas of London.”
Mr Pearce is keen to stress that the process of turning the village into a permanent community was built into the planning of the Games.
East Village will offer a range of town houses, maisonettes, apartments with high environmental standards and quality fixtures and fittings.
It was designed from the start for legacy. That involved close working with Lend Lease and the Olympic Delivery Authority.
“East Thamesfirst involved in 2006. The Games was a temporary use and the long term sustainability was always our goal,” Mr Pearce explains.
There are still some adjustments to be made. For example, kitchens were not put in the apartment during the Games.
“We have had our own team of quality control on site the whole time, with a real focus on long term quality, and they have been very fastidious,” Mr Pearce says.
The legacy of the Games will live on in a new London neighbourhood of mixed housing, with places for people with a range of incomes.
Triathlon will offer employment support to residents who are out of work and aims to have 50% of all working age social tenants in work.
“The first people will move in next spring,” says Mr Pearce.
“On our website more than 10,000 people registered who want to live in East Village.
“We are based in Stratford and the Games were a fantastic success and East Village is the next exciting phase.”