Grosvenor said it wants to meet the needs of those locked out of the housing market with up to 1,350 new rental homes on the 12-acre former biscuit factory site.

This would make the scheme one of the capital’s most ambitious build-to-rent developments.

The site plan has been designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and also includes a new 600-place secondary school at its heart, over 110,000 sq ft of new public spaces and almost 20,000 sq ft of new playspace.

12-acre biscuit factory site sits close to the Thames in south London

Network Rail is proposing plans at the same time to see 165 underused railway arches on the site that are now in poor physical condition, refurbished and filled with offices, shops, restaurants, leisure and light industrial businesses.

Grosvenor said it wanted to create a place for people of mixed incomes, backgrounds, life stages and jobs and proposes a range of apartment sizes, from studio to three bedroom.

Katherine Rodgers, development director, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, said: “We have spent four years getting to know Bermondsey, its people and its communities and want to help knit together the best of Bermondsey with an investment and long-term legacy that generates local opportunities and can respond to changing demand.”