A Russian investor has bought a student halls of residence in Birmingham for £10.6 million.

AZ Real Estate, a consultancy which has offices in Moscow and London, has bought City Edge in Edgbaston on behalf of a private Russian buyer.

The complex, in Hagley Road, has 136 studio apartments and is close to Birmingham City University's South Campus which is currently undergoing a £41 million expansion.

The apartments are housed in a former office block designed by renowned Birmingham architect John Madin which underwent a conversion in 2016 and includes a ground-floor retail unit occupied by music shop Guitar Guitar.

City Edge has been purchased from Shaylor Holdings with a lease of 111 years and is currently managed by Homes for Students.

Alisa Zotimova, founder and chief executive of AZ Real Estate, said: "This represents a significant acquisition with a strong long-term yield thanks to a highly buoyant student market, with limited supply of purpose built accommodation.

"Birmingham is the UK's second city, with an attractive knowledge economy that will continue to prosper, giving us confidence in this investment for the future.

"The acquisition is also indicative of an emerging shift in investment trends whereby clients are willing to forgo traditional trophy assets in favour of those with stronger long-term returns and projectable cash flow, many of which are now outside of the capital."

Property consultancy Knight Frank and law firm McHale & Co also acted on the deal.