Does anyone use Northwood Lettings

Guest101

Carrot3 wrote: »

Me and my boyfriend rented off them for over a year and when we moved out they was a nightmare with the deposit! One week they said we would get the full amount the nect it was £30 less. After an amount was settled they told us that they would send it via cheque in the post. 2 weeks went and buy and still no sign of the cheque so I rang and enquired about it. The woman was very helpful and sympathetic in the phone and told me that it hadn't even been authorised so had to wait a further 8 days until it was credited into our account. So all in all it took 5 weeks to get the deposit back! Was not happy at all!

Was ur deposit protected? They're franchised and some I know for a fact don't protect the deposits.

Twosugarsnomilk

As a home owner living next door to a Northwood let, I would have to say as long as they get their money that's all that matters! After many complaints to the wrexham office, nothing was done about the scrap yard being run in the garden next to me! Vans parking on my lawn to collect car parts, maybe 4-5 cars in parts in the back garden and oil leaking through the fence. All I could get from them was "their due for inspection" and as far as I know this has not happened in 36 months. Feel sorry for the property owner, if the outside of the let is twice as bad as the inside, it might be a case of strip out and start again.

QContrary

We rent our house through Northwood, and I cannot say it's been a pleasant experience, a series of incidents namely the two reasons we chose this house! The garage and the fact it was advertised as allowing pets. We weren't allowed to view the garage when we first came to see the place as 'the tenant wasn't in' so asked whether it was secure and dry, we were told yes it was. First day we moved in the next door neighbour told us that the garage leaks everytime it rains, we complained to Northwood who initially ignored us until eventually I started emailing them and they sent someone round to have a look at the drainage. We were told it would get sorted and we're still waiting. We complained about the general dampness in the house and were told that we've caused it. And 2 times to our faces were told we could have a dog and that we just needed to let them know and they'd add a pet addendum. But turns out that is lies as well as the landlord seemingly does not want dogs in the house. Honest to god, I would not recommend them to anyone! I find them very rude on the phone, and they told us a bunch of lies to get us to sign the contract!

dgtazzman

We rented a 1-bed flat through the Northampton branch of Northwood around 4 years ago. Weren't that impressed with them. The initial fees were high compared to other companies and they were really laying on the pressure to 'sell' the place to us, which didn't help as we were in a hurry to find a place and almost everything else we had looked at had been snatched away in front of our noses.

We also had appointments with them to see 3 places, for one appointment they were 30 minutes late, had to phone them to find out where they were. The second appointment they just plain didn't show up as they had let the property earlier the same day to somebody else and not bothered to tell us about it.

At one point my now wife slipped in the bathroom and damaged the bath tub, purely accidental and as far as we knew it was insured through the landlord's insurance on the flat as it was fully furnished. They refused to see if it could be claimed, so we ended up having a new tub installed at our expense. They weren't very friendly about that little incident, while we made it clear all along that we would put it right, we just wanted to know if it was covered by insurance.

The bathroom had a mould issue, no windows and poor ventilation. They just dismissed our comments about it, told us to ventilate it better. Would have liked to have known how exactly we were supposed to do that. The bedroom had the same issue, we ended up keeping the windows open most of the day, even in autumn/winter to keep it under control in that room. We still got mould in there, it just didn't accumulate as fast any more.

Before checking out I repainted the bathroom with paint left at the property by the LL, which was supposedly the colour they originally used. This because of the mould. We managed to wash it off in the bedroom, but the bathroom needed painting. They deducted money from our deposit as in their eyes it didn't match the original colour. I wasn't very clued up at the time as to my rights and the dispute process, so I just let them keep it to get them off my back and get a good reference from them. They also deducted money for additional cleaning, while the apartment was the size of a postal stamp and I went over every inch with a toothbrush while cleaning, even had all the curtains dry cleaned, which cost a small fortune. It was basically also a blatant lie.

All in all, not very impressed with Northwood, in fact, just 2 more months and we're out of the rental game altogether, thank God for that. The rental market seems to be dominated by a bunch of cowboys that are poorly regulated and prey on the uninformed and weak.

moon_river

We were once unfortunate tenant from Northwood in SE, let's say in our case, we followed all the procedures for formal complaint. The head office did not do anything at all to help.

Eventually we went to court, 3 months after the bullying and intimidation (non stop phone calls from them in a week) by the incompetent team from Northwood.

We won the case and will never ever want anything to do with them as a tenant or landlord.:mad:

Having said that, people tend to share their negative experiences more because they want to warn others from making the same mistakes. As mentioned before, it's a franchise, so it probably varies across the country.

PAUL_wwww

This is a warning to any landlord who wants to let their property with Northwood 271 North Street Bristol BS3 1JN.I signed over my property to Northwood in A1 condition on 11/2/2013 my experience with them was good until things went very bad. Northwood informed me of a problem at the property with a leak coming from the roof and I agreed for their contractor to carry out an assessment of the works required to remedy this. But to my Horror when I got the report from their contractor it said, I quote "Note- This is the worst case of moisture I have seen, taking into account the roof space has vent tiles the only way moisture drops would permanently drip like that is extreme heat being used or vented into the loft space. I have only seen this before in a customer’s house where cannabis was being grown. Evidence found growing lights and extractor fans found in cupboard upstairs whilst I was checking all ceilings for damp.Emergency action is needed before all roofing and ceiling timbers are lost". When the problem was identified Northwood initially took liability and instructed their contractor IronGates Property Services to start the works on the roof. This resulted in scaffolding being erected. They then told IronGates Property Services to halt the works on the basis of a police report, which was done days after. When they had already informed the tenants that they were coming to carry out an inspection of the property. On receiving their report I contacted Northwood office where I was informed that I was liable for this damage and that my insurers would have to deal with it.My insures said"With reference to your claim for damage to the roof unfortunately we are unable to assist you in this matter as your policy excludes "Any loss or damage caused as a result of the property being used for illegal activities." I then asked for copies of their regular maintenance checks reports. 30/1/2014 I was sent only one report dated 19/6/2013. This report was in my opinion of a very low standard and looks as if it was completed without a full check of my property being carried out. The main reason for me choosing Northwoods over other management companies was their assurance of regular checks on my property. One check in fourteen months does not adhere to their promise of regular checks. One of my main concerns was that if the property was having regular checks with reports being carried out as I was informed it would be done as part of their managed property service, is that this problem would have never occurred. Also they had as many as 8 people living at my property what was never agreed with me. It was let on agreement that no more than 3 people would be residing at the property. Also complaints about noise due to band practices at the address caused hostilities towards me from neighbors that I have always had a good relationship with. I was prepared to let this matter rest on the assurance that they would make good all works necessary to put my property back to A1 condition. But Northwood just tried to get out off the contracted and there responsibility's which left me with a £7,200.00 bill. Northwood Said"As previously advised, we have started the process of recovering possession of the property and suggest at the point that we receive possession, we hand the property back to you after we have fulfilled our contractual responsibilities. It is probably in both parties’ interests to terminate our agreement at this point." I Do hope they do what is right as I just can't afford to lose this kind of money.

lorrym

mlz1413 wrote: »

Has anyone had any dealings with Northwood Lettings? They are advertising heavily on the radio around here, Milton Keynes/Bedford (although they are all over England) as they do a guaranteed rental income scheme.

I recently signed up for this and have been bitterly disappointed with the reality. I have been mis-informed twice, they put me on the wrong scheme and then blamed my partner getting involved for the problems even though he has never spoken to him!

Just wondering if anyone else has had any good or bad experiences with them?

I use Northwoods North Glasgow office, based in Milngavie Road Bearsden, and as a tenant, I have had nothing but problems with them. The main one being the alleged manager in charge of the office, Barry, has no idea of the difference between being in credit and being in arrears. On three separate occasions I have been told I am in arrears, when the tenant statements clearly state I was in credit.
I am so sick of his incompetence, that I raised a complaint through their head office, clearly stating that as I can no longer trust a word that comes out his mouth, I want all future correspondence to be in writing, and that all calls or answer messages will be ignored. Since then I have received five calls, all of which I ignored. Their head offices reply to this was to offer me £25 on the agreement I didn't disclose this to anyone. This was refused and I am currently taking legal advice.
I am also currently in the process of looking elsewhere for a flat, and will certainly never use Northwood again. They are beyond useless.

northwoodAberdeenReview

DO NOT RENT FROM NORTHWOOD ABERDEEN THEY TRY EVERY TRICK TO GET AT LEAST SOMETHING OUT OF YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE. despite leaving the property in immaculate order and having all emails to backup the property manager Steven Anderson is completely illiterate and does not understand straight talk. It was purely obvious they just try and get as much out of you. in the end I really didn't have time for him as his emails stopped making sense so just gave in and let them keep the proposed amount! Just remember NORTHWOOD there is never any blessing in the money you STEAL off people and HONESTY really does pay. whether you STEAL by deception or directly you will be judged for it and as the saying goes what goes round comes round. mark my words. We all know some agents are dishonest but when you provide someone with all the proofs and they just don't get it well that persons intellect is just not worth wasting your time on!!

stator

northwoodAberdeenReview wrote: »

DO NOT RENT FROM NORTHWOOD ABERDEEN THEY TRY EVERY TRICK TO GET AT LEAST SOMETHING OUT OF YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE. despite leaving the property in immaculate order and having all emails to backup the property manager Steven Anderson is completely illiterate and does not understand straight talk. It was purely obvious they just try and get as much out of you. in the end I really didn't have time for him as his emails stopped making sense so just gave in and let them keep the proposed amount! Just remember NORTHWOOD there is never any blessing in the money you STEAL off people and HONESTY really does pay. whether you STEAL by deception or directly you will be judged for it and as the saying goes what goes round comes round. mark my words. We all know some agents are dishonest but when you provide someone with all the proofs and they just don't get it well that persons intellect is just not worth wasting your time on!!

Can't you just claim the deposit back from the deposit protection scheme, or does it work differently in Scotland?
ps Northwood are crap

iamlink

I have a thread detailing the problem I'm currently having with them - 6 months rent upfront (unable to post a link...)