A former gravel pit and landfill site in Dagenham is being transformed into a new £78.4m scheme which will deliver hundreds of new homes on public land released by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Building work is now under way to create the new Lymington Fields housing development, which is expected to provide 418 new homes for Londoners by 2019 in partnership with developer Lovell and affordable housing provider Home Group.

The scheme in Chadwell Heath will deliver 116 homes for affordable rent and 43 homes for shared ownership through Home Group, as part of the Mayor's First Steps programme, as well as 259 homes for private sale by Lovell.

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Designed by architects Pollard Thomas Edwards, the homes are a mix of two, three and four-bedroom houses and one and two-bedroom flats.

Lymington Fields site was among the first of 600 hectares of land – the size of 210 football pitches – the Mayor has brought forward for the development of new and much needed homes for Londoners since he took on the role in May 2012.

The Deputy Mayor for Housing and Land, Richard Blakeway, took part in a ground breaking ceremony at the official launch of the scheme today.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: "This is one of the largest regeneration projects ever seen in Dagenham and will transform this site into hundreds of much needed new low cost homes.

"This former gravel pit is part of thousands of acres of land I'm releasing to double the number of homes being built for hardworking Londoners and ease demand for more good quality homes."

(CD/JP)