Ah I see what you mean, actually I would have normally started looking before I left like I did last time, but this time I wanted a bit of a break so I only started looking once I left. I just didn't think it would end up taking this long to land something. Think I'll avoid taking any more "breaks" between contracts if I can avoid it in future!
My brother seems to encounter that a lot, agent/client being uncertain about renewals and it's all up in the air. I've been lucky so far in that both places I've contracted at (NHS then private) have been happy to just keep renewing me and the managers have been the friendly type.