An apartment complex in the Black Country has sold two months before it was due to be auctioned with a guide price of at least £2.5 million.

Old School Court, in Bilston, had been scheduled to go under the hammer at Birmingham-based CP Bigwood's July event but generated substantial interest enabling the early sale to Edgbaston property group A.H.Field.

The complex was being marketed as a freehold residential investment property comprising 45 one- and two-bedroom apartments with a current gross income in the region of £250,000 per year.

Senior partner Rory Daly said: "We are really pleased. It is a brilliant disposal - we are now doing more and more deals of this sort of scale and size.

"CP Bigwood has been growing rapidly, widening our horizons and increasingly taking on major projects."

The A.H.Field Group is a housing, construction, investment and property lettings business with a history spanning more than 80 years.

Founded in the 1930s as house furnishers, it has more recently concentrated on the residential lettings market with purpose-built blocks of flats and newly constructed homes acquired from mainstream builders.

It is now one of the largest private landlords in Birmingham.

Chief executive Mark Hirschfield said: "Old School Court is just the sort of quality development we look for.

"Once we were aware it was available, we were keen to make a move. It is a great purchase and we are thrilled to own it. It will be a significant asset for our portfolio."

The disposal was handled jointly with JLL.