Best strategy for getting property back from guaranteed rent agency?

Hi, I’m an accidental landlord hoping for some advice from more experienced landlords, thank you in advance.

We have had a flat rented through a Guaranteed Rent agency – i.e. a Rent to Rent agreement for over a decade. We have no direct agreement with the actual tenants, just an agreement with the agency.

However, we gave them notice late last year that we wanted to end the agreement and get back vacant possession of the property (so that we could sell it).

They claim to have gone through the motions, and whenever I chased them, they advised they were still waiting for court to respond etc.
After about 8 months of waiting (and due to other changes in our circumstances), we emailed them that we were considering withdrawing the previous request to get the property back, but we would need an increase in rent if we were to continue renting the property to them.

They went away and started negotiations with the existing tenants about increasing the rent they pay. The agency came back to us and advised that the tenant had agreed to the increase and asked to again confirm that we wished to halt the eviction process. We confirmed they should go ahead.

I did not hear back for a few days, so I emailed for an update. The agency now responds that they have not yet received confirmation from the tenant, so we can’t sign a new agreement with the agency until the tenant confirms.

After a few more days, I emailed the agency advising that we have had a change of circumstances and instruct them to continue with existing eviction process.

The agency replies asking if we still want to evict and sign a new agreement or just don’t want to sign a new agreement. I confirm that we don’t wish to sign a new agreement and just want the property back.

The agency then responds to the effect that ‘they had conducted negotiations with their tenants in good faith’. A verbal agreement was reached with the tenants which forms a legally binding contract, and so if we wanted to evict we would have to start the whole process again from scratch. In a nutshell, we can not resume the eviction and they would be in touch to arrange the signing of a new contract, end of discussion.

We don’t hear anything for a couple of weeks, and then I suddenly get a phone call asking why we have not signed the new agreement. I say because no one has reached out to us. A lot of pressure is applied to sign the new 2 year agreement, I question the need since they have already said that the eviction process had been aborted. The agent comes out with all sorts of nonsense about why we still need to sign a new agreement.

The next day I get a message from a 3rd party which suggests the tenants in the property have moved out. I ring the agency and they claim to be unaware. The agency calls me back after an hour or so offering a much sweeter deal if we sign a new contract.

There are lots of other shady/dodgy suspicious details/questions about dates, etc which I will not mention here.

Our position is that we just want our property back. But we are worried they will resist returning the property to us. We did try to get the property back several years ago, but they just spun it out for 2 years and wore us down and we reluctantly agreed to renew the agreement with a small increase in rent.

I have also since read several reviews of the agency from owners who say they had major difficulties getting their property back.

So, I am looking for advice on the best approach for getting the property back
1) Email them saying we just want our keys back and don’t wish to sign any new agreement
2) Email saying that we want the property back so we can get some sale valuations and renovations quotes etc and then decide if we sell or sign a new agreement with them
3) Just change the locks this weekend, email them on Monday that we don’t want to renew and have nothing more to do with them
I did visit the property to take a meter reading from the external meter, but I did not enter the flat. A neighbour confirmed the previous occupants had left 3-4 days ago.

Any advice on which of the above three approaches to adopt? Our worry that they will not give up the property without a fight is well founded, at least in our minds!

Thanks,

H