The London mayor has provided £25 million to help revive the project via the Mayor's Housing Zones Initiative, with which developer Durkan will proceed with the building of 354 units on the Britannia Music site.
It is expected that the first homes will be completed by 2018, news hailed by deputy mayor for housing and land Richard Blakeway.
Describing the project as a "classic example" of how the fund is being used to regenerate brownfield land for housing, he remarked: "The Mayor's investment has unlocked a site that has previously stalled since 2007, delivering much-needed homes which it's hoped will trigger further development in the town centre."
The homes are the latest instance of new building in the east of the capital, which has been identified as the loart of London that will accommodate most of the increase in its population to over ten million by 2030.
