I had a similar case a while back when an organisation presented themselves as the landlord because they had an agreement with the owner to manage the property. They did so and provided the support to the tenants, and even set the service charges as well as having the HB paid to themselves. They really saw themselves as the landlord. However, the crucial points were that the tenancy agreements make clear that the owner was the landlord and the agent managed the property on their behalf. The owner sets the core rent.
In your case the tenancy agreements state who the landlord and managing agents are. How are the agents arguing that they should be treated as the landlord in contradiction to this?
