Their prices are great and the service when you go in the office is fantastic but they are extremely slow at fixing issues and charge you hidden admin fees

Not the worst I've had to deal with. You wont find yourself dealing with particularly motivated people, but they don't seem to be actively out to get you.

AVOID NORTHWOOD ABERDEEN AT ALL COST!!! Our 18-month experience with Northwood Aberdeen was awful beyond words can describe. As new international students who arrived in the UK in January 2022, my spouse and I were desperate to find accommodation and settled for an old, poorly insulated apartment managed by Northwood. Initially, Northwood was responsive to our inquiries, which is why I gave them two stars, but the subsequent experiences were terrible. Our troubles began when we discovered a crack in the kitchen window. After reporting it, Northwood concluded we caused the crack by installing an adhesive blind, demanding we pay over £200 for a new window. Despite our explanations and the contractor’s confirmation that the blind couldn't have caused the crack, Northwood remained adamant. Things worsened when we sought to move to a larger Northwood property, a 2-bedroom bungalow nearby. The viewing was unprofessional; the agent was preoccupied and dismissive. Despite this, we applied, providing comprehensive documentation, including my husband's payslips and a reference from his manager. I also provided my upcoming employment details and a reference from my future manager. Surprisingly, Northwood insisted we needed a guarantor, despite our clear financial capacity and rental history. Reluctantly, we provided one, but then they absurdly requested a landlord reference from themselves, delaying our application because our property manager was on leave. After repeated follow-ups, we were finally informed the apartment was rented to someone else, indicating Northwood’s apparent unwillingness to rent to us. As we searched for other apartments, we faced more issues. We needed a landlord reference from Northwood for a new application with another agency. Northwood refused unless we gave a one-month notice to vacate, even though we were only in the application stage. This seemed like targeted discrimination against us as immigrants. Forced to comply, we eventually secured a new apartment elsewhere, without needing a guarantor. Before leaving, we hired a cleaning company and documented the apartment’s condition, which had normal wear and tear. The only significant damage was a fire-grazed kitchen hob. Northwood had 31 business days to dispute our deposit but waited until the last moment to claim the entire £495 deposit and demanded an additional £200 for damages and cleaning. This unprofessional behavior was rightly timed by the property manager the night before his three-week leave commenced leaving us without anyone to clarify our doubts. We provided evidence of the apartment’s condition and the mould issue, which Northwood had ignored, but they rejected all our proof. We took responsibility for the damaged hob and made a reasonable offer through Deposit Scotland. After months of silence and deadlines passing, Northwood eventually claimed the entire deposit, suggesting they were doing us a favour by not asking for more. Our prolonged struggle with Northwood was exhausting and felt deeply discriminatory. This detailed account aims to warn potential renters. Northwood Aberdeen seems to prioritize landlords and lacks respect for tenants, responding to emails at odd hours and openly discriminating without accountability. Now, living in a new apartment managed by a different agent, the stark difference in treatment is clear.

For the majority of our tenancy, we had no issues with Northwood. The people we interacted with directly were friendly and problems were dealt with relatively quickly. The issues started at the end of our tenancy and were mostly caused by poor communication, as it seemed they just lost interest when they found out we wouldn't be staying with them. Before moving out, we made sure to clean the flat to a high standard as requested by Northwood. We returned our keys before the end of our tenancy and expected the final inspection to be carried out on the day we moved as our paperwork stated should be the case. It wasn't until after we left that we were informed that although this is what the paperwork said, it was a blanket statement and that they would not do the inspection until the final day of our tenancy which was 12 days later. During this time, there were 3 more viewings where people walked around the flat, making the floors we had cleaned dirty again. As a result, we had to pay increased cleaning fees as they refused to move the inspection due to a technicality. To their credit, the inspection was conducted on the day our tenancy should have ended. However, despite our paperwork also stating "If the tenant was unable to be present at the checkout inspection, inform them of the outcome of the inspection and any issues identified", we had to contact them 10 days later having not received any communication regarding this inspection. As a result, we ended up paying late fees on our utility bill as it took so long for them to get things sorted. The long and short of it is - Northwood functions well as a business but they only do the bare minimum and only when it benefits them. Expect to have to chase them up frequently if you want to get anything done and don't expect fast replies, if at all.

Tried to contact for property to view but they didn't get back to me

Regretfully disappointed I rented a property for close to 2 years. I am likely guilty at being too relaxed as a tenant having owned property for over 20 years and was accommodating to the fact the landlords response times were poor for anything needed, or simply just ignored. Star rating I was torn with as the staff are nice when you speak to them and when I dealt with Rory before he left he was lovely!! potentially happy to review rating if anyone bothers to get back to me from my email enquiries still unanswered. On departure I’ve had to query a few issues. None of which have been addressed or satisfactorily resolved. I get a reply after my contact returns from holiday asking what my query is…..I’ve asked on numerous occasions and am not going to repeat myself anymore……. My main issue was returning a property in better condition than I received it. During my time in tenancy I experienced a flood, subsequently it was addressed by tradesmen the property would unlikely not have been approved via buildings for the extension due to the electrical box location. As it happens during the flood I received rather a large electric shock then gave up my weekends for it to be moved!! No one has acknowledged any of my comments in relation to this. I was charged for damages (for a shelf becoming loose that had been fitted without raw plugs, a bed slat missing on a bed left by previous tenant (and landlords bed had been left unused in loft space) along with £54 to wipe a mirror streak. As it was all left to the final day on the SDS site I honestly couldn’t be bothered to go through resolution and wait 2 more months for replies and being blown off so I gave up and accepted as I suspect too many people do. At least the neighbors were amazing and I’ve long term people to stay in touch with as I was as sad to leave them as they were me 😆.

WARNING! Despite a great few years with them, upon leaving, they are attempting to take money from our deposit for issues that not only did we not cause, that are not in the exit itinerary but is believed to be caused by their own workmen while property in their possession. Tying to hold previous tenants liable for damage they cause despite exit video evidence to the contrary.

Nice properties but sadly when asking questions they’re never answered properly e.g is this pet friendly? To be return to make a booking… I was also emailed this morning about availability to view again but an hour later at 9am to say there was already an application received prior. If this is the case, why was I notified at 8am that no one was interested and therefore I should consider viewing? For a working professional this is very difficult to determine if this is disorganization or games… it’s a big deter from rental prospects. Great pictures on the properties though.

They will ask you for a months rent + £100 and then coincidentally charge £108 for cleaning even when you have had it professionally cleaned and left it in nicer condition than when you moved in (we even offered to repaint two rooms to freshen them up). Thank goodness we requested an invoice from our cleaner so when we fought it and they requested proof we had it. GET AN INVOICE when you move out so you aren't scammed out of £100. Took almost three months to get our deposit back and they did everything last minute, they only responded because my partner escalated it with SDS. Communication overall was pretty poor throughout our tenancy as our person of contact seemed to always be on annual leave... You also don't get their email or number and instead have to go to a general email and wait ages to hear back. They won't reply unless it is going to affect them directly so make sure to chase them up. I was also extremely disappointed at how they dealt with viewings, we were still paying full rent and they would book silly amounts of viewings expecting us to drop everything for them and be out the house (in a world where so many are now work from home). I didn't mind the bookings as I know that's what they have to do, but a double check to ask would have been nice. I also kindly asked them if they could avoid touching anything during the viewings due to not only covid (we at the time did not get sick pay for covid), but my sensitive and confidential work documents I had too. I left all of the wardrobes open, doors open, lights on, kitchen cupboards open etc and when I came back in there was lights off, cupboards closed etc. But again, unless it benefits them they don't care. They aren't totally awful and at the beginning they seemed alright, I wouldn't not rent a place I loved because of Northwood but I would certainly be extra cautious with everything you do with them.