Birmingham home to latest 290-bed student accommodation

Moorfield, a boutique UK real estate private equity fund manager, has announced the practical completion of the latest purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) development in the UK.

Toybox, the forward funded 290-bed scheme located on Bishopsgate Street in Birmingham’s city centre, was developed by the Torsion Group, a privately-owned independent development and construction company covering the student accommodation, residential and housing sectors.

The development comprises 151 studio apartments and 139 en-suite cluster bedrooms spread across a 15-storey building. It also boasts good amenities including stylish communal spaces designed to ‘optimize effective studying’.

Students moving in will have access to a fully-equipped on-site gym and wellness studio, a private courtyard garden, automated parcel lockers and fast fibre optic Wi-Fi. The property is already 100% let for the beginning of the 2019/2020 academic year.

Toybox is close to all of the four major Birmingham universities, collectively home to over 79,000 students. The city’s main shopping district – including the Bullring shopping centre, a range of popular student bars and restaurants, and a wide range of leisure facilities and amenities – is also in close proximity.

Charles Ferguson-Davie, chief information officer, says Moorfield’s experience from previous projects – including Hox Park, which services Royal Holloway University – ensured it delivered a scheme that is ‘of a high quality with interior design and stylish communal facilities focused on enhancing the students’ university experience as well as supporting their wellbeing’.

He says: “The letting success at the Toybox reinforces our belief that a British university education continues to be of particular appeal to overseas students, who expect more from their university experience than ever before – and the quality of their accommodation plays a major role in that experience.”

Since investing in the student accommodation sector in 1988, the company has developed and managed over 6,000 student accommodation beds across the UK, including Printworks in Exeter and Century Sq. in Sheffield.