Landlord vs guaranteed-rent/company-let operator after Renters’ Rights Act?

Hi, We have a company-let agreement with a rent-to-rent/guaranteed-rent operator. The contractual term has expired but the operator has not returned vacant possession because some of its sub-occupiers remain.

The operator is now saying that because of the Renters’ Rights Act changes that we, as superior landlord, must obtain possession against the operator and occupiers, even though our agreement appears to place responsibility for removing subtenants and associated possession costs on the operator.

They have also stopped paying rent and are asking us to use the contractual deposit instead while possession remains outstanding.

Has anyone dealt with this exact structure since the 2026 changes — particularly whether the superior landlord now has to bring possession proceedings and whether that affects the operator’s contractual liability for rent/costs?

I’m particularly interested in experiences with guaranteed-rent/rent-to-rent operators rather than ordinary AST possession.

Thank you,

Jonathan