A £1billion Lewisham regeneration scheme delivering 2,400 new homes is set to become one of London's first Housing Zones.

The 30 acre former Surrey Canal site will house 6,000 new residents and a new overground station.

New Bermondsey will also deliver 2,000 new jobs and London's largest indoor sports centre, Energize.

Lewisham deputy mayor Councillor Alan Smith, said: "This is one of five key sites in the north of Lewisham that we are working to develop to bring much needed homes, improved transport, new jobs and great new facilities for our community.

"I'm delighted that Housing Zone designation will enable this work to start two years earlier than planned."

Housing Zone funding, providing £20 million as a loan to accelerate the delivery of the scheme.

This will speed up building of the first 532 homes by at least two years and accelerate the entire development by three years.

All homes on the site will be marketed to Londoners first.

Work will also begin this year on the new Overground station at New Bermondsey on the East London Line between Surrey Quays and Queens Road Peckham.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "We need to double housebuilding and provide a million more homes by 2025.

"Innovative new Housing Zones such as New Bermondsey will trigger regeneration and turbo boost the transformation of the capital's brownfield sites, creating tens of thousands of new homes for hard working Londoners in first class, new neighbourhoods."

The New Bermondsey Housing Zone bid was jointly submitted by the developer Renewal and Lewisham Council.

The site was identified by London boroughs as a key opportunity site to maximise development, fast track homes and deliver much needed infrastructure to boost development.

Construction of the entire development is expected to be completed within eight years and the Housing Zone status will remain until 2025.