Things are looking positive.
I spoke to my estate agents yesterday and said that I need to know if they are still committed to the sale, as there are other properties out there that I liked and I wouldn't want to miss out on those should this sale fall through. Also they liked my circumstances as I could move almost straight away (rental runs out on the 3rd of January) and likewise I liked that they were in the same situation, but as it stands it looks like I would have to find quite costly storage etc should they drag the sale on, implying why should I have to go into temporary accommodation and not them, as it's their sale that fell through.
The upshot of this conversation is that the sellers are looking at 2 places today, but would be willing to into rental accommodation should they not come to fruition.