Absolutely disgraceful company. I've rented for the past 8 years and in all my experience of reasonable and difficult letting agents, Northwood UK is by far the worst. Where to start? -As not all the tenants are UK Citizens, we were charged double the standard deposit. -A handyman was given the keys and entered the property without notification from Northwood UK. So my partner came home alone to find things moved and thought the place had been robbed. -We were charged 50 pounds because the outside of the windows had not been cleaned. This is absurd given the state of the flat when we rented it, but as we didn't have photographs to prove otherwise, we has this deducted from our deposit. When I asked for the third time for the receipt, Claire simply re-sent another image of the 'dirty' windows, without any accompanying text. I expect this sort of petty behaviour from a teenager, not someone who is supposedly a 'professional'. -After our lease ended on the agreed date, Northwood attempted to charge us 78 pounds because the flat was not filled for three days after our lease ended. They had 7 weeks notice to fill the flat, and were attempting to charge us for their own inability to find a suitable tenant! -We were told we HAD TO take out insurance for the furnished property (with the expectation that we would use the company they supplied the details of). Surely the landlord is required to insure their own belongings? It certainly sounds like Northwood will be making money from unsuspecting tenants through referral money for a service that is not compulsory. My tips for dealing with Northwood Edinburgh if you are already unlucky enough to hold a lease with them and have any problems with return of your deposit: -Clean outside of windows and take photos after you've cleaned them. -Check the tenancy agreement for details stating they can claim (whatever price they want) to have things such as the above addressed. -Take them to the Property Ombudsman. -Take your grievances to their Director. -Leave reviews here and on alltenants. My tips if you're looking at renting from Northwood UK. -Don't. ##Update. By contrast we have just finished a tenancy of 18 months with DJ Alexander. They have been nothing but helpful through the entire process and I have zero complaints about them. Find a house with them if you can! Brilliant for tenants and landlords alike!

Very poor experience

If you have the bad luck to meet these guys, be aware: first they will request you to pay the deposit and one month of the rent in advance and after they will do a "check" of your personal details; if there is anything wrong, you will be not refunded and you will stay without tenancy contract. If you pass their check, note that they will increase the rent price as soon they can (property owners are not even awarded of it). A very rude woman will visit your accommodation every 2-3 months and take pictures in every room. Even if this inspection is not mentioned in your contract, they will do it and ignore if you complain. Also, they will give you problems to do any reparations or solving any issue in the property. Be aware that they do not pay landlord license. Please check the property is on the landlord registration website or ask in Citizens Advise. When you finally end the tenancy, even doing a deep cleaning, the will charge you £80 (+ £20 of administration) for cleaning any signs of dust, searching in the most hidden objects. I would not recommend this agency to my worst enemy, stay away if you are still at time.

Absolutely ABYSMAL service, maintenance issues need reported several times before anything is done and staff are utterly rude and instead of offering any kind of sincere apology they shirk away and deny all responsibility shifting it to the tenant, avoid them at all costs

Most unprofessional letting agency I've ever contacted. Do not bother with them as they will never get back to you on your application, even if it is a simple no. Very rude.

Owners and renters beware My partner and I rented with Northwood for 8 months and they were simply terrible. We were able to get out of what should have been a 12 month lease as Northwood broke the terms of the lease by allowing people to come into the flat without our authorisation (terrifying and violating to come home and find your things moved). After speaking to Citizens Advice, we found out that in addition to the unauthorised entry, they had also illegally charged us a double bond and illegally forced us to get renters insurance. On moving out they charged us £50 for a window clean (despite the windows not being clean when we moved in) but struggled to provide a receipt for the clean when asked. They finally did provide a receipt however it seems unlikely that it was genuine. They also attempted to charge us for additional days rent and it was only after a number of emails and calls they withdrew the incorrect charge. Advice for renters: check and challenge everything they charge you. Advice for owners: high turnover of tenants due to poor estate management ultimately costs you rental income.

Very poor service. Could not recommend Northwood as letting agents to deal with as tenants. Be sure to scrutinise any proposed charges/deductions very closely. We challenged the basis for a cleaning invoice to receive a job specification which was dated after the date of the cleaning invoice. Quite remarkable.

I have been renting in the UK for about 12 years now (Thankfully this was the last rented place) and while none of the agencies I have dealt with are great as most of them like charging exorbitant amounts of fees, Northwood are the only ones I am leaving a negative review for a multitude of reasons. When we moved into the property 9 months ago the kitchen and bathroom were really really dirty (horrible deposits in the toilet which we cleaned and really really greasy hob and oven). None of the extractor fans in kitchen worked(One of them was fixed by Northwood after 6 months of continued chasing). Agency fees are illegal in Scotland but Northwood make sure they get money from you somehow and I will list the ways they do it. To start with the first month's rent was 150 extra. When I asked why they had no response to it other than that's the way they do it. Also, they have a fixed term contract which they force you to renew and never convert to rolling as the contract says it would turn into if you don't renew it. That means if you try to move away at any point other than at contract end irrespective of the notice period, you will be forced to pay the exorbitant 330 pound advertising fees. Their suggested cleaner charges super high fees too compared to other cleaners you can hire yourself and refuse to give an estimate and say they will charge between a range on the day of cleaning depending on how it goes. They even sent the wrong meter reading and date to my electric/gas company which now I have to get a proof to if I want to fix it which I cant be bothered with. There were several other problems with them and this is just the top things I could think of. We were in a hurry to get a place as we were moving cities but if you have a choice then avoid them.