More than 500 students are set to call a 33-storey building in Stratford home in the University of London’s first major property acquisition in more than half a century.

The £105M building, bought in partnership with University Partnership Programmes (UPP), will include communal space as well as 511 student bedrooms, totalling 18,000 sq m.

Dubbed Duncan House, it has been designed by Hodder and Partners, with the Watkins Jones Group selected to build it.

Chris Cobb, pro vice-chancellor (operations) and chief operating officer of the University of London, said: “This is an exciting and significant investment for the University. It’s the first major property that we’ve acquired in 50 years and the first outside of central London.

“This investment continues our trajectory of offering students quality accommodation which balances affordability with low travel times to their place of study.

“It also continues our commitment to modernise and expand our property portfolio to meet the needs of future generations of students.”

Sean O’Shea, group chief executive officer of UPP, added: “The University of London is a world-renowned institution and we are delighted to have reached financial close on this landmark transaction in east London.

“Located in the heart of Stratford, this exciting scheme will offer future generations of students’ competitively priced accommodation and facilities of the highest quality.”

The University of London consists of 18 colleges and nine specialist institutes across the capital, for which it currently offers around 3,000 beds.

These include the University College London (UCL), which is set to open a new campus, known as UCL East, on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in time for the 2019/20 academic year.