I posted recently about this - and many times previously - but I am really so anxious, I just need to talk about it 
FTB, buying a leasehold flat with a share of the freehold. Vendor lives abroad and the property is empty.
We have three young children. We held off giving notice on our flat but the process has been so long, we didn’t want to be in a position of paying rent and mortgage - which we absolutely can’t afford - so gave our landlord notice in mid December.
My solicitor has been useless and several times claimed things had been done, only for it to transpire they didn’t do it. I complained on the Friday before Christmas because it’s been almost five months of being told it was progressing when it wasn’t.
Senior solicitor at the firm has taken on my case and reviewed everything. He says we’re just now waiting for the licence to assign from the vendor. There’s a property manager who has been helping the process and he has said that they applied for that a while ago but will chase today.
My solicitor just emailed to say vendors solicitor has said they haven’t even applied for it yet.
Wtf. Is this how it works - people just saying they’ve done stuff when they haven’t? I am beginning to panic like mad because we have three young children, and no other options if our landlord gets new tenants. We have to pack, do end of tenancy clean and move in 29 days and haven’t even exchanged yet! Never mind that the property itself needs DIY that we’d hoped to do before we even moved in.
I’m really stressing. Is it always like this? There is no chain on either side and I know I’m an inexperienced FTB but I thought it would be slightly easier than this. I just don’t understand. Vendors solicitor was pushing to exchange the week before Christmas - so how can he not have everything in order if he wanted to exchange?!
Sorry for the long rant. If it was just me and DH, I wouldn’t be sweating over it but we can’t just move in with family or anything like that temporarily with three children.