Westfield shopping centre in Stratford expects more visitors in 2016 than it received in the year of the Olympics
Westfield's Stratford shopping centre is expecting higher footfall than it had in the year of the Olympics, thanks to regeneration in Stratford.
John Burton, Westfield's head of development, said there had been a plan to have 4,000-5,000 new homes built in Stratford – but now, 10,000 new homes are expected in the Stratford City site.
Read more: Westfield to create 8,000 new jobs at Stratford centre
The first office developments are expected next year, further boosting footfall to the shopping centre, which opened in 2011.
Footfall at Westfield was close to 48m in 2012 – but, according to Burton, about 8m visits were people travelling through to the games. Burton expects Westfield will boast the same footfall this year, even without the added stimulus of the Olympics.
Read more: Mapped: First-time buyer house prices in every London borough
"We dropped back to around 42-43m after the games," Burton said.
"But we thought the original 4,000-5,000 homes would take 40 years, and they have largely been delivered now."
The Stratford area is attracting young Londoners who want to get on the housing ladder and find it difficult to buy a first-time home in other areas. With Crossrail arriving soon, Burton expects the number of people in the area to "grow and grow".