Free trader should cover empty college houses like this (8)
I believe the answer is:
terraced
'houses like this' is the definition.
'free trader should cover empty college' is the wordplay.
'free' indicates an anagram.
'should cover' is an insertion indicator.
'empty' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'college' with its centre removed is 'ce'.
'trader' is an anagram of 'terrad'.
'terrad' going around 'ce' is 'TERRACED'.
(Other definitions for terraced that I've seen before include "(Of houses) built linked in rows" , "(Of land) rising in steps" , "Like row of joined houses" , "Retraced like row of contiguous houses" .)