Mayor of London Boris Johnson has selected preferred bidders for two sites, owned by the Greater London Authority, on which private rental homes will be built.

Altogether, there will be 470 homes for long-term private rent and some 780 other homes on sites at Silvertown Way and Pontoon Dock.

All the private rented homes must be retained by the developers, and not sold, for at least ten years.

The chosen bidders are Opal Land, a joint venture between Thames Valley Housing and Linden Homes, and a consortium backed by the London Pensions Fund Authority alongside Bouygues Development and Grainger.

The Silvertown Way site is vacant land while the Pontoon Dock site is currently a public car and coach park.

Johnson said: “These two great new developments will turn surplus public land into new homes for Londoners. These schemes will be built faster than conventional methods by providing a US-style private rented model alongside traditional tenures.

“It’s important for London’s economy to support the growing rental market, providing top-quality homes and management, together with the reassurance of longer tenancy agreements.

“I also want to entice more institutional investors to come forward and invest in quality homes for Londoners, further supporting house building and creating thousands of new jobs.”