I'm British but BF is a foreign student. Can he stay?

[DBoo]

I am a British citizen of 25 yrs, born and raised in England. I graduated last year and started my first full time job in January, on a 23k salary.
My boyfriend is 23 and Mauritian. He's been studying in England for 4.5yrs and his visa will expire in January 2015 when he is due to graduate.

We have been a couple for about a year and have formed a very close and serious relationship. Unfortunately we have only lived together for 6 months which, by visa standards, is not enough. We won't have clocked the 2yrs required for a partnership visa by the time his student visa expires. Furthermore, we rent a room in a house-share with 3 other people and the bills have always been in our housemate's name. Therefore we have no official proof of living together at all.

In an ideal world, we would like to settle into our own place and both be in work before we think about getting married. However, if my boyfriend can't immediately get a work permit, it seems the only alternative to keep us together is for us to marry.
For me, it is so against my ethics to think about rushing into marriage for the sake of a visa. It completely undermines what marriage is about and I wouldn't want people to think that a visa is all we are together for.

I would like some advice about anything we can start doing now that might help our situation? Would it help for us to move out into a more 'suitable' form of accommodation? Is there hope for us?

[bhargav24]

if you get married then apply as spouse visa should be ok.