The London Pensions Fund Authority, the £4.8 billion retirement fund for City Hall, is to invest in building homes in east London on land freed up by Mayor Boris Johnson – swelling the ranks of big investors hoping for a payoff from tackling the UK's housing crisis.

The LPFA is leading a consortium of investors who are lending money to French construction group Bouygues, which is building the 210-home project in Pontoon Dock, Newham.