Olympic Village funding deal won't be final until spring 2009

It will take until the spring to strike a restructured funding deal for the Olympic Village.

Olympic Minister Tessa Jowell would not comment on what shape the deal might take.

In an answer to a written question in the Commons on Monday, she said: "As a consequence of recent turmoil in the global financial markets, less private sector investment is available than originally envisaged, meaning that the Olympic Village deal needs to be restructured and additional public sector investment will need to be made.

"The details of that restructured deal are being worked through between the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and Lend Lease under the terms of an exclusivity agreement and it would not be appropriate to reveal the details until that deal is concluded in the spring [of 2009]. Under the exclusivity agreement, the ODA may not negotiate with alternative development partners."

Bovis Lend Lease is currently working as a contractor on the Olympic Village site. Work is being funded from the government's £95m contingency fund.

The government has already admitted that it is likely that the taxpayer will end up footing a larger share of the bill for the £1bn project, although it is still unclear at this stage how much of a contribution it will make.

Meanwhile Southern Housing Group has been drafted in to develop the affordable housing element of the scheme.