Could of been a bit more helpful

Covid 19 protocol compliant in handling customers

I was a tenant with Northwood for over six months, they are consistently difficult to deal with. They forced my flatmate to pay six months rent upfront because he and his family live in Italy and do not have a UK address. I spent half a day waiting in their office before I could move my things out of my previous flat as I had to wait until my flatmate paid 6 months rent in advance. Before we moved out we had been given a list of demands to get our full deposit back. This included replacing the bath sealant in a damp bathroom, and at the time of writing we still have not recieved our deposit nearly a month later. I had recieved a call from the landlord, thanking us for the condition we had left the flat in. Northwood have been very unhelpful to us as tenants. Edit: 25/06/2020 Our deposit was returned to us, after I wrote the above review and contacted the office. Matt spoke with me over the phone and was happy to discuss and resolve any issues.

They seemed professional enough, but found the letting process complicated inaccessible and overly expensive to enter into a lease for a very small flat...

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