Newnham College has informed incoming postgraduate students that it has “run out of rooms for 2025-26,” and is directing students to seek accommodation advice through external providers – including the housing and homelessness charity, Shelter.

In an email sent on Friday (25/07), the College’s Student Accommodation Officer confirmed that no further rooms would be available to incoming postgraduate students. Students will be added to a waiting list and only contacted if cancellations arise.

Attached were two documents: one listing other colleges that may be able to offer Newnham students accommodation, and another offering advice about securing private accommodation.

The first includes five colleges: Selwyn, King’s, Corpus Christi, Lucy Cavendish, and Lutheran theological college Westfield House. However, the email admits that “none of [the colleges] have been able to confirm that they will definitely have accommodation available,” with Corpus Christi in particular having “little chance” of availability. Incoming postgraduates at Newnham are to be added to these colleges’ waiting lists.

The second document, compiled by a previous Accommodation Officer, invites incoming students to consult services such as the Student Union and Shelter.

It also highlights the Link House Trust, a Christian charity for new international postgraduates, which requires applicants to meet some “conditions,” to follow “some rules,” and to reside in a building with a live-in warden.

One postgraduate student at Newnham currently resides there, and two previous Masters students at the College have done so in the past, where they were reportedly “very happy”.

The document also recommends browsing platforms such as SpareRoom and warns of potential scams on websites such as Gumtree, advising students to use their “common sense” and to “trust [their] instincts”.

Incoming postgraduates have also been pointed in the direction of agents and private rentals offered on sites such as Rightmove and by estate agents, though the document notes, “These are usually entire flats or houses so may not be suitable or affordable unless you can get together with a group of friends, or other students looking for accommodation.”

Another problem associated with private accommodation which the email highlights is that “new rules mean that fire doors must be installed if three or more people, who are not related or in a relationship, live together,” meaning “landlords will not go to the trouble of doing this and will rent to families instead.”

The email reflects a wider trend of postgraduate housing pressures in Cambridge. Christ’s College announced in 2023 that it could not house all incoming postgraduates for a second consecutive year, and advised students to seek help from the University Accommodation Service.

Cambridge was recently ranked the third most expensive UK city for first-time buyers, with average house prices over £560,000 – more than 12 times the typical annual salary.

Rising admissions have left many postgraduates reliant on the private rental market, which the previous Accommodation Officer described as “generally more difficult [and] expensive,” with international students often being required to pay 6-12 months’ rent up front if they lack a UK guarantor.

Newnham College was contacted for comment.