Another idea is to give up on the idea of living together for now and have him find a sponsorship anywhere in the UK, we'd live apart for 6 months until we meet the financial requirement through him and then we can move in together once we get the spouse visa and he's free to work anywhere he wants to. That would be really hard on him to be by himself, but I don't think we have any other realistic choice at this point...
You would need to check the small print of any potential contract to make sure that there is no financial penalty for leaving after such a short tine with a new sponsor.