The firm has has snapped up a 6.5-acre swathe of land at the Royal Mail’s large Mount Pleasant office site in a deal worth nearly £194m.

Royal Mail secured planning consent two years ago for a mixed-use scheme of 681 homes, alongside retail and offices on the key site at the top of Farringdon Road.

Taylor Wimpey chief executive Pete Redfern highlighted improving opportunities in London four weeks ago after revealing a strong first half performance.

“In central London the land environment has changed, and we are seeing opportunities emerge,” he said.

“Having remained disciplined on acquisition criteria in the past 18 months in central London we are working on certain potential opportunities that would be significant and financially attractive and would provide the backbone for this regional business for a number of years.”

Martin Gafsen, group director of property and facilities solutions at Royal Mail, said: “The sale of our development sites at Mount Pleasant to Taylor Wimpey is a great opportunity for us to contribute to the regeneration of the area around our iconic Mail Centre building.

“This will create more housing, including affordable units, as well as community facilities and more public space.

“It will also help us secure the long-term future of our key central London operational site.”

Royal Mail said that significant further investment will be needed for works to separate its retained operational site from the development plots. These works are expected to cost £100 million and are planned to be completed by 2021.