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Property group Dandara has sold three of its residential developments.

The trio of build-to-rent schemes has been bought by German investor ECE for an undisclosed sum.

It is ECE's first entry into the build-to-rent market and the three sites comprise 2,063 apartments.

They are Aston Place in Birmingham which comprises 324 units and has already been completed.

The 995-unit Chapel Wharf in Manchester and 744-unit Leodis Square in Leeds are both due to be finished later this year.

Salford-based Dandara will continue to manage the developments following the acquisition under its Dandara Living brand.

The developer announced in 2016 that it had secured backing for the projects from the Homes and Communities Agency and HSBC.

Founder and chairman Dan Tynan said: "ECE made the perfect buyer for us.

"Dandara sees the huge growth opportunity that BTR represents in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, in particular, the regional markets.

"Our current pipeline includes 2,500 new units, 50 per cent of which have already secured planning consent."

ECE's portfolio includes retail and commercial assets across Germany and the company is planning to expand its activities further in this sector across other European countries.

It entered the British residential real estate market last year with its first project in London, a joint venture with Art-Invest Real Estate and Dukelease where it is developing a £190 million scheme with 88 apartments and 15 affordable housing units.

Dandara was advised by Rothschild and Knight Frank while JLL acted as consultant for ECE.