Graduate accommodation
King's offers single rooms to all graduate students whenever possible, and guarantees at least two years of accommodation to each student (normally in the first and final year of graduate study).
Room provision
All rooms have a bed, a desk, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, bookshelves and a reading lamp. They usually also have an easy chair and a coffee table. Internet access is available in all rooms via a wired (ethernet) connection and some have access to the King's WiFi network.
Length of tenancy
Graduate tenancies last for a minimum of nine months, from October until the end of the following June. If unexpected and extenuating circumstances arise such that a student believes they will be unable to fulfil their nine-months tenancy, and wish to request that the tenancy be terminated early, they must give one full term's notice in writing to the Accommodation Officer. A full term includes the vacation period if notice is given during the Christmas or Easter vacations. If the student fails to give such notice, then they remain liable for all accommodation charges up to the end of the three month notice period.
Extension of tenancy
There is an option to extend tenancies into the summer if required, but please note that this may not always be possible; it is subject to the availability of suitable rooms and is dependent on permission from College. If the room in which one has stayed up to June is not available during the summer then a student might be still be able to extend their tenancy, but only if they are willing to move to another room.
Locations
Tennis Court Road
This hostel is located about 12 minutes' walk from King's. One of the main attractions of the rooms here is their close proximity to many of the University departments, particularly Engineering and Chemistry. There is a large kitchen / common room on the ground floor, and smaller kitchens on the upper floors. There are shared bathroom facilities, and each room has its own washbasin. There are also laundry facilities onsite. The majority of rooms in this building are at the lower/cheaper end of the rent scale(see Costs of Rent below).
St Edward's Passage
Located right in the centre of town, St. Edward’s Passage is just across the road from the main College site. There are 10 en-suite rooms spread across 3 floors, and though the rooms are older, they are refurbished and good-sized. The top floor rooms have lower ceilings. Some have views of the Passage, whilst others look out onto the central courtyard.
Rooms are en suite, and there is a kitchen on each floor. Though on the smaller end of the scale, the kitchens are standard, have electric stoves, and are still a good size for socialising. There are laundry facilities in the nearby King's accommodation, and a shared private bike parking area.
Additionally, this hostel has access to a lovely common space shared between all nearby King's accommodations featuring a courtyard mezzanine. Rooms are charged near the middle of the rent scale, at the baseline (see Costs of Rent below) and are virtually identical, so rents are the same throughout.
Cranmer Road (four buildings)
The Cranmer Road site is just off Grange Road, about 15 minutes' walk from the College, and close to the University Library and the Sidgwick Site. The site consists of the following four buildings, a large garden, shared laundry facilities and common room.
The Cranmer Site offers students a beautiful landscaped garden, with lots of outdoor seating and grass you can actually sit on! There are plenty of secure, undercover bike storage places on-site, although many University Departments and Facilities are in easy walking distance.
Grasshopper Lodge
Grasshopper Lodge consists of two renovated old houses connected by a more modern building. Grasshopper has 29 rooms across three floors. Each room has its own washbasin, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities on each floor, and shared laundry facilities on the ground floor. Rooms are available in a variety of sizes and the rents vary accordingly (see Costs of Rent below).
Most rooms have a single bed and bedside table, a desk with a lamp and office chair, an arm chair, a pinboard, a bookshelf, a closet or wardrobe, and small set of drawers. Depending on the room, some have sofas and tables, and a few even have balconies and mini greenhouses!
Cranmer Road Building
The original Cranmer Road building has 17 rooms over three floors and access to the garden. Each room has its own washbasin and fridge, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities on each floor, and a common room on the ground floor. Rooms are available in a variety of sizes and the rents vary accordingly, though most rooms tend to be towards the lower/cheaper end of the rent scale (see Costs of Rent below).
Villa Building
The Villa Building has 19 rooms over three floors. Each room has its own washbasin, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities on each floor. The building was completed in 2020 and has an energy efficient design which adheres to Passivhaus standards (a sustainable housing initiative which requires little energy for heating and cooling), which demonstrates King's commitment to sustainable, responsible development. Rooms are of very high quality and include a double bed and bedside table, a desk with a lamp and office chair, an arm chair, a large pinboard, a built in bookshelf and window ledge, two wall hooks, and a closet and small set of drawers. Rooms are charged near the middle of the rent scale, at the baseline and are virtually identical, so rents are the same throughout (see Costs of Rent below).
Stephen Taylor Building
The Stephen Taylor Building has 40 rooms over two floors. Each room is en suite, with shared kitchen facilities. There are two large kitchens on each floor, and a large common room on the ground floor, which is shared with the other buildings on the Cranmer site. The building was completed in 2020 and like the Villa Building, it also adheres to Passivhaus standards. Rooms are of very high quality and include a double bed and bedside table, a desk with a lamp and office chair, an arm chair, a large pinboard, a built in bookshelf and window ledge, two wall hooks, and a closet and small set of drawers. All rooms are en suite, so rooms are charged at the higher/more expensive end of the rent scale (see Costs of Rent below). Rooms are virtually identical so rents are the same throughout.
Stephen Taylor Court (three buildings)
Stephen Taylor Court is on Barton Road, about 15-20 minutes' walk from the College. The site consists of four buildings. The three listed below are allocated to students and the fourth is allocated to Fellows. The site offers large gardens, communal spaces and onsite laundry facilities. Like the Stephen Taylor and Villa Buildings, all four buildings were built with environmental consideration in mind and have a similar energy efficient design which adheres to Passivhaus standards, ensuring highly efficient buildings with very low energy demands.
The Adkins Building
The Adkins Building has 48 rooms across three floors. Each room is en suite with a double bed and bedside table, a desk with a lamp and office chair, an arm chair, a closet and small set of drawers. There are two large kitchens and two common rooms on each floor. All rooms have lift access. Rooms are of very high quality and charged at the higher/more expensive end of the rent scale (see below, on Costs of Rent). Rooms are virtually identical so rents are the same throughout.
Croft Gardens House
Croft Gardens House has 12 rooms across three floors. Each room has its own washbasin, double bed and bedside table, a desk with a lamp and office chair, an arm chair, a closet and small set of drawers. There are shared kitchen and bathroom facilities on each floor. Rooms are of very high quality and charged near the middle of the rent scale, at the baseline (see below, on Costs of Rent). Rooms are virtually identical so rents are the same throughout.
Building A (1- and 2-bedroom apartments)
Building A consists of six 1-bedroom and six 2-bedroom open plan, furnished apartments for graduate couples and families. The rent for a 1-bedroom apartment is £1,149.73 per month, and a 2-bedroom apartment is £1,370.10 per month. The apartments include an induction hob, combination oven (microwave and oven in one), fridge/freezer, washing machine and dishwasher.
How rooms are allocated
After being offered a place at King's, you are invited to fill in a form to request accommodation in early August. Once your request is received, your accommodation is allocated by the College Accommodation Officer as soon as the University Graduate Admissions office confirms your place, and you have met all conditions of entry. You will be given an opportunity to request a room at the lower end of the rent scale; however this cannot be guaranteed and will be subject to availability.
It is not normally possible to specify which building you wish to live in, although the Accommodation Officer will also take into account any students with special accommodation needs (such as disabled access). In recent years, first year students have been allocated one of the following hostels: Cranmer Road Hostel, Grasshopper Lodge, Tennis Court Road, Villa Building or the Stephen Taylor Building. This changes from time to time according to circumstances.
Please note, because the numbers of graduates requiring accommodation each year can fluctuate, there is normally a deadline in August by which you must request accommodation and have your place confirmed. Advance notice of this deadline is provided from year to year. If your place is confirmed after the deadline (or you request accommodation after this deadline), we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate you.
Assuming that you request accommodation and have your place confirmed in advance of the deadline, then you should expect to be informed of the room you have been allocated, and its rental charge, in early- to mid-September. It is only possible to inform you of your allocation once all student places have been confirmed.
After your first year, if you wish to apply for accommodation for further years, you will need to enter the ballot. Final-year students are normally guaranteed accommodation, and they choose first. Anyone else who would like to apply for a room is put into a randomly-generated order and select their rooms after the final-year students.
Costs of Rent
Graduate rents at King’s are organised into five “bands”, ranging from cheapest (band 1) to dearest (band 5). The particular rent band that a given room falls into will depend on the facilities it has (size, amenities, desirability, location etc.).
In 2025-26, band 4 rent (i.e. the baseline) will be £2353.75 per quarter; the cheapest rent (i.e. band 1) will be £1785.50 per quarter; the most expensive rent (i.e. band 5) is £2543.25 per quarter. In 2025-26, we expect that roughly half of the rooms we offer to graduate students will have rents at the baseline or below (i.e. rental bands 1-4), and the other half of rooms will have rents above the baseline (i.e. band 5).
How are rents determined?
Rents for rooms are set according to a new methodology which was voted for by KCSU, KCGS (now KCGU) and Council in 2024.
The new methodology is based on a rolling 5-year average of CPIH (consumer price index including housing), with the intention of providing a predictable basis for students to plan. In periods of spiking inflation, the College will take on greater costs to protect student budgets. Increases produced by inflation spikes will also be spread across successive student cohorts, rather than place a heavy burden on those who happened to be in education at the time. This method is set until the next rent review in 2029.
King's College accommodation is accredited by ANUK.
