Hundreds of new student flats are being built in and around Cambridge at the moment, but if current plans go ahead, these soon could be filled by non-university students, otherwise known as 'crammers'.

The rooms are currently only allowed to be let to students at the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin, but the proposals outlined in the city's new local plan would allow them to be let to students at one of Cambridge's new 'crammer colleges'. These offer intensive tuition to students willing to pay premium prices.

Planning officers in the city are arguing that a more flexible student housing arrangement makes more sense, as the student bodies of the city become more institutionally diverse. Councillor John Hipkin (a former mayor) has pointed out (ahead of discussions) that some developments in the city are already being marketed to students who don't attend either of the institutions specified by the council's current rules.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Creative Commons.