Construction will take ten months to transform a former office block into Vita Student at Richmond House which will contain 211 studio apartments.

The job is Vita Ventures’ seventh student project in the UK.

CEO of Vita Ventures, Trevor Moore, said: “The acquisition of Richmond House marks a key milestone for the business as it brings our portfolio value up to more than £100 million and our total number of student apartments under construction up to 1,145; a huge achievement in less than two years.

“One of our differentiating factors is that we manage every stage of our developments, from land procurement right through to finding the tenants year after year. This is vital if we are to deliver true quality as it allows us to have complete control of every stage.”

The studios in Southampton are due to go on sale to private investors from the end of this month with a starting price of £67,800.

It is a fully-managed investment and investors earn their assured rental yield, which is fixed at 7%, for the first five years of the development being opened.