Olympic village funding 'just about impossible' to find

The international banking crisis has made it “just about impossible” to secure funding for the Olympic village, London 2012 bosses have admitted.

Olympic Delivery Authority chairman John Armitt said international bank collapses had hit the village funding struggle hard, making the situation worse than ever.

Olympic village developer Lend Lease has struggled to raise its £450m share of funding for the £1bn village as banks have tightened their lending.

Mr Armitt told a meeting at the Labour party conference: “The reality is that the situation is changing by the day and the amount of finance that was available six months ago, a lot less than that was available two months ago and less than that was probably available last week.

“The reality is that getting a loan from the private sector for just about anything at the moment is just about impossible.”

He said he was confident half of the village was covered, reported the Evening Standard.

The government has already warned the Homes and Communities Agency to be prepared to be the “last resort” buyer of the village.