UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello everyone, I'm very happy to have found this site, kit will be of great use to me and I hope I can help others too. Here's my query, a bit long, but detailed.
I have a three bed semi, Victorian style, that I bought from my current rental/estate agent about nine years ago. Let's refer to him as Mr Z.
I renovated it and went travelling around the world for a year after renting it out on a full management basis, using Mr Z as the agent. He selected great tenants and I was happy.
I moved back in and then decided to rent it out again about five years ago when I once again went on a world trip. I signed a sole agency agreement, like I had first time around, and Mr Z looked after my property and again selected good tenants, Upon my return I made a decision to keep renting my house and I found somewhere else to live near my work. I was now renting myself. This was about three and a half years ago.
During that three and a half years my tenant moved out and another moved in, a lovely young family. I queried Mr Z about our Sole Agency Agreement and he suggested we carry on with the one signed previously. I was happy with the arrangement and Mr Z was giving me a great percentage rate, quite low in comparison, below 10% including VAT.
Now to the issue. About a year ago Mr Z employed a replacement Lettings Manager to the previous one. Since she took charge I have had endless problems with her. She doesn't send me monthly statements on time and I am always emailing and phone calling to get her to do it. She has failed to send an annual statement in April last year and this. She has sent personal correspondence and hardcopy rental statements to the wrong address. She has always insisted that she has emailed the missing statements, even when they are not in my inbox. She always blames the computer system or being busy etc. When work and repairs needed doing she would always say that a quote was on the way from the tradesman, but it would not arrive.
Basically I have spent so much time calling her and emailing that I am now managing her to manage my property. Anyway, last week I called her and told her I didn't want her managing my property anymore. I also spoke to Mr Z last week and he asked me to send some of the emails to him so he could investigate, which I did. He also stated that if I wanted to give notice to him it would have to be three months notice, however, the Agency Agreement states one month.
He said he would get back to me but for the last six days he has not returned my emails or phone calls despite leaving messages. I am concerned that he may be up to something I might not like. For instance, can he re-sign the existing tenants on a fixed term contract so that it is difficult for me to give notice? Is he obligated to tell me about this? The tenants are currently on a periodic tenancy, the fixed period ended about one and a half years ago.
Has anyone else been in this situation? What did you do? Why would Mr Z be avoiding me, a long term customer?
(P.S. I live about fifty miles away so it's not so easy to pop in, although I have on occasion in the last year to demand what was going on with certain aspects as mentioned).

He may well be on Holiday, its been Easter.

Dont stress.

The employee is obviously useless.

Phone, then go and speak to the tenant. See what they want to do. If they are keen, just give them your bank details and get them to start paying you direct.

When the Agent is not in charge of the money, they become more "customer focused".

I asked my agent some questions by letter and had no answers.

I think they wanted me to take the matter to the Property Ombudsman, which I did after three weeks, - but I still require replies to my letters.

They usually reply to landlords, but just to share my story. Some agencies are such assholes. Like for instance, one was trying to harass my tenant and deduct money from his deposit and speaking on behalf of my name. As if I wanted to deduct the deposit. When he in fact never called me. That was the last drop for me. Now I am just using Bungaloow to manage my properties myself. Never been better.