As is common knowledge, the costs incurred to redevelop the Olympic Park, other venues and infrastructure and public transport facilities are not included in the cost for hosting the games. These costs are generally covered by the money of the public while the hosting costs are privately funded. In March 2007, Tessa Jowell made an announcement in the House of Commons that the budget for redeveloping the venues and infrastructure for the games will be £5.3 billion.

She further announced that a £1.7 billion budget will be allotted to the wider development of the Lower Lea Valley. The total cost for the redevelopment of East London and the hosting of the Olympic Games amounts to £9.345 billion including the contingency fund, policing costs, Paralympic and elite sport funding and the VAT.

In August 2007, popular Irish daily, ‘The Belfast Telegraph’, reported that the initial joy which people had after winning the bid to host the games died down after realizing the costs that needed to be incurred in order to provide the necessary facilities for the athletes. The organizers were widely criticized for underestimating the costs for hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Following the complaints, the Funders’ Group agreed in November 2007, to have a baseline scope and budget which is proposed by the Olympic Delivery Authority. Out of the total budgeted cost, £6.09 billion will be made available by the public sector funding package, according to the new plan. However, a report from a London based Culture and Sports Committee revealed that some of the funding is also done by taking money away from arts and sports groups based in London. Other reports from various authorities and organizations from all over the UK have revealed that financing for the Olympics has taken away crucially necessary sums of money away from them.

The new coalition Conservative-Liberal government in Great Britain has also cut the Olympic budget by £27 m as a part of their £6.2 b cuts in all sectors.