Man offers room to female students because he’s scared of sleeping alone

An East London tenant is offering a free living place in his bedroom to local female students, because he suffers from ‘autophobia’ – a fear of sleeping alone.

The advert for the ensuite bedroom in Gants Hill was spotted on the well known flatshare website EasyRoommate.com, with the Londoner hoping that his fears would be put to bed by a new female roomie.

Probably what the guy feels like in bed. Not the man offering the room

The man wrote: “I am renting another bed in my spacious ensuite bedroom for free.

“The house has a lovely living room and garden, as well as a gym and four bathrooms.”

This seems innocent enough – but after reading his list of peculiar specifications, some have questioned his motives.

He wrote: “The tenant must be a single female, clean, organised and sociable. Contact me for more details and to arrange a viewing.”

The man’s search was soon over, however, as his post was removed within days by moderators after a vast number of complaints.

To ease users’ concerns, the CEO of EasyRoommate said in statement: “We believe that flatsharing can be a wonderful experience, given the right conditions.

“Because we don’t want to leave to chance, we have a dedicated moderation team working around the clock to ensure the advertised flats are genuine.”

He also added: “As a word of advice, if its too good to be true, it probably is.”

We spoke to some female students, who had mixed reactions to the bizarre advert.

Lizzy Woods, a Religion, Politics and Society fresher, told The Tab: “Thats so creepy! Fair enough if you need a room mate because of a condition like autophobia, but I doubt his condition is specific enough to dictate the need for his room mate to be both female and single.”

First year Jessica Martin, who studies Classics, agrees. She said: “Surely a genuine fear is not gender dependent.

“It’s quite disturbing and makes it seem like he isn’t just looking for someone to keep him company. It comes across as exceedingly suspicious.”

However, students feel more sympathetic. Sally Boffey, an English Literature second year, said: “Oh my god, what the hell. I kind of pity him.”

Meanwhile, Felicity Mutch, a second year historian, questioned: “Can they actually describe him as creepy? If someone described me as creepy I would sue.

“What’s sad is that some girl will see that, and be happy and go live there.”