Please help - joint tenancy disagreement

[JointtenancyNC]

Advice needed please.
I’m currently in a flat share with one other flatmate in London, it’s a joint tenancy. I don’t know my flatmate very well, haven’t been living together long (spareroom situation).

However, in a few months we are coming up to the end of fixed term tenancy contract, and it’s a joint tenancy. Landlord has asked if we would like to extend (I wouldn’t). Also, the landlord is actually raising the rent if we extend the contract - it was already overpriced and now I genuinely can’t afford the new rent, and quite panicked.

I had informally told flatmate in person that I didn’t want to stay but they have expressed wanting to extend the contract so we have different views.

As a compromise, I thought I could try and find a replacement tenant to replace me for someone who would be willing to extend the contract alongside my flatmate but we’ve not had much interest despite using spareroom, multiple Facebook groups, and cold approaching people on spareroom.
No new contract has been drafted yet, so nothing has been signed yet. I’m really scared I’ll still be liable if my flatmate chooses to extend, will I still be liable if I refuse to sign the new contract?

If I’m finding it hard to find a replacement tenant at the current price it will only become much harder when the rent goes up further. I also can’t afford the new rent price so really don’t want to be tied in to a new contract.

I had this quite a few times in my early twenties. If the current contract ends, the flatmate will need to take out a new contract as a sole tenancy or with a new joint tenant and you should get your half of the deposit back.

Outside the fixed term (which is about to end), no one can make you stay in a tenancy you don't want and can't afford. Just don't sign the contract and move out by an appropriate date.

What the flatmate does, whether they can afford the whole rent etc is not your problem, they're an adult and can find somewhere else to live or pay full rent.

You will not be held liable as long as you don’t sign the new tenancy agreement so don’t do that! You have already told your flatmate you will not be staying in the property so the onus will be on them to either find a new flatmate or cover the entire rent themselves.

You need to notify the landlord in writing (email is fine) that you intend to move out and end the joint tenancy by the end of the fixed term.

This will end the tenancy for your flatmate so she will need to sign a new tenancy agreement with the landlord, in her sole name or with a new joint tenant.

If you don't do this, you will continue to be jointly and severally liable for the rent as if neither of you end the tenancy at the end of the fixed term, it automatically continues as a periodic tenancy.

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/joint_tenancies/how_to_end_a_joint_tenancy

This is why it’s hard to keep hold of a two-bed flat as a single renter.

Even when the landlord lets you find a replacement, any replacement tenants found through SpareRoom won’t want to pay 50% of the cost of a 2-bed flat at full market price and with bills on top.

It tends to be couples/besties who’ll rent a 1.5 or 2-bed. And if one tenant wants to remain in the property, they’ll probably have to pay more than the new second tenant.

But in exchange they’ve got a bit more say around house rules and furnishings etc. And as the years pass and they feel attached to the flat, they may end up becoming a sub-landlord, with the second tenant actually being their lodger. Though whether this happens depends on how mad the rent gets.

Thank you all! I still feel a bit guilty forcing the other flatmate to have to move out in Feb but I’ve really struggled with finding a replacement, even with cold approaching people who have put up ads for seeking a room on spareroom, and tailoring the message to their needs (so not sending annoying spam like some agents do).

Usually, people say there’s too much demand/ competition for spare rooms in zone 2 so should be easy to find a replacement but clearly I’ve had bad luck (or likely due to the room being overpriced).

& I made such an effort to deep clean the place, take pics in good lighting and put an extremely detailed ad. So many people on spareroom use misleading ads for eg claiming their room is in Canary Wharf when in reality it’s in East India (very different feel), don’t bother tidying up or use deceiving old pictures.

I’d much prefer to not flatshare to avoid all this stress when sharing with strangers but it’s too expensive to rent alone in zone 2.