Single housing around university is exactly as expected (2,3)
I believe the answer is:
on cue
'as expected' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'single housing around university' is the wordplay.
'single' becomes 'one' (a single thing - only one).
'housing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'around' becomes 'c' (abbreviation for 'circa').
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'c'+'u'='cu'
'one' going around 'cu' is 'ON CUE'.
'is exactly' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for on cue that I've seen before include "at the appropriate time" , "At exactly the right moment" , "At the correct moment, like actor prompted to speak" , "promptly?" , "When signalled" .)