The other day my fob stopped working and upon inspection one of the three legs of the battery holder was snapped. I have managed to solder it for now but it is strictly temporary. Also since doing that the red alarm light flashes continuously unless the unlock button is pressed again when inside the vehicle.

I bought this from e bay

MG ROVER 100 200 25 45 LAND ROVER ETC REMOTE ALARM KEY FOB CIRCUIT BOARD | eBay

and I have two options either de-solder the battery holder and transfer it ( my solder skills are not brilliant) or have this one recoded. I assume it is impossible to re code it myself?

Unfortunately you are correct, you cannot program that remote you have purchased to your vehicle by yourself. The correct diagnostics machine would be required.

An alternative to soldering it etc yourself if you're not feeling confident is to have a look on somewhere like eBay, there are many sellers that 'refurbish' Freelander remotes (new battery, new case, resolder joints etc) - I think I paid something along the lines of £18 when I had mine done a couple of years ago. The bonus with doing it this way is you don't have to worry about reprogramming it.

I still haven't got around to doing anything about the fob but an interesting phenomena has arisen. If I remove the battery (it's a new battery) and then after around 30 seconds replace it the fob then works properly for a while. By the next morning though it has stopped working until the process is repeated. I have tried this two or three times in the evening and every time this is the result but I have yet to try it in the morning and see if it lasts all day, I doubt it will. (Wife has the vehicle for work in the day)