Landlord changing Letting Agency

[Fairlight]

Hi!

I hope someone can help me in figuring out the situation I am in at the moment.

I am a Tenant caught in between some kind of fight between the Landlord and the Letting Agency.

We moved into the property a bit over 5 months ago, on a 6 months fixed AST contract that is due to expire end of this month.

The contract was set up and signed with the LA.

The LA was apparently not very efficient, not providing much service for both the Landlord and the Tenant (me).

The Landlord now decided to move from the current LA to another one. I was contacted by the Landlord about a month ago to not pay the LA any more money and instead pay the Landlord directly, which I did.

The current LA now contacted me, telling me I am in breach of contract since I have a contract with them, not the Landlord.

The Landlord tells me she has given the current LA written notice, so the current LA is out of the loop, and we are to deal with her directly and/or the new LA. After all, it's her house we're in.

It appears the current LA did invoice the Landlord for services which were not provided to us, and when the Landlord found out, she ditched the current LA and moved on. The result of all this is some kind of mud fight between the Landlord and the current LA about who owes who money.

The Landlord says from the money we gave her she paid the current LA their monthly fees, so they should not get back on us at all. The LA on the other side says they never got any money from the Landlord.

I am now completely confused as to how to react.

Yes, on one side I have a contract with the LA, on the other side the Landlord has cancelled their contract with the LA, so the LA is, technically, probably no longer responsible for the house we rent.. and I am completely at a loss as to who I should listen to.
The LA, who threatens me to take legal action with solicitors and take the rent I owe them out of the deposit (mind you, at the time I am writing this I am 5 days behind from the LAs view.. so they obviously try to threaten/scare me into paying them quickly) or the Landlord, who obviously is very dissatisfied with the current LA, but seems to have a good fight on her hands trying to break loose from them, and I am unsure about the legal status between the LA and the Landlord.

So.. who do I have to listen to to be on the safe side.. the LA with which I have a contract (at least until the end of the month, when the AST runs out, but even then, doesn't it automatically get prolonged on a per month basis? Would I then still be contractually bound to the current LA? Do I have to put in notice to the current LA?) or the Landlord, who owns the house?

Can someone help me make sense of this, please? I'd be thankful for any tip, really.. I consider going to the Citizens Advice Bureau when they are open, but they are usually so busy you can't get through for weeks....

Best regards,
Fairlight!