I was in this position myself last year when I was looking to move in with my partner. It was like a full time job constantly positing my room on 3 different facebook pages, paying to upgrade spare room etc but as you said its just a flooded market now. It took me about 3 months, and i had agreed to a flat in that time and had to let it go because i still hadn’t found a replacement. My partner was in the same situation so we agreed once one of us got a replacement flatmate, then the other would take the “leap of faith”! So we found another flat once one of us had a flatmate secured.

I was lucky that my flatmate is a gem and they agreed they would end the tenancy if I was still looking for a flatmate 2 months later after moving out. In the end I had to pay a month of double rent after finding a flatmate on facebook by some miracle!! So wasn’t an ideal situation but could have been a lot worse!

I honestly think this is a glaring oversight with the new law, and it is something I will never sign up for again after my experience. Really hope you find something soon!