Three multi-million pound deals will provide over 1,300 new homes built specifically for private rent in London.

Housing minister Brandon Lewis made the announcement yesterday, as it emerged that one London council, Westminster, is to look for sites outside London where it can build fresh housing stock.

Westminster, which has a long housing waiting list, says it has no sites of its own where it can build anything affordable.

The new homes announced yesterday by Lewis will include 903 at Stratford’s Olympic Villages, 278 in Southwark, and 172 across sites in Hammersmith, Westminster and West Kensington. The three Build to Rent funding deals together mean an investment of £252m.

Work on the one-, two- and three-bedroom homes will be completed in 2017 and 2018.

Speaking at the London Real Estate Forum, Lewis said: “As a global city, with excellent opportunities and links to the rest of the world, there is clear demand to provide people with the flexible option of renting in London.

“These three deals will deliver 1,353 new homes specifically for private rent in some of the capital’s most sought-after locations, meeting the needs of tenants well into the future.”