LANDLORDS BEWARE We went with Northwood in 2012 because were were moving to Australia and wanted the rent guarantee and peace of mind. It all looked very appealing when they came over with the glossy brochures but when the tenants came to view Northwood forgot to turn up so we had to show them around ourselves. The first couple of tenants were lovely but one later told me that she left because they wouldn't respond to her messages asking for small fixes or requests and then put the rent up with very short notice. We came back to the UK for visits over the next few years. The first time we noticed that the property was falling into disrepair such as the decking starting to rot. We pointed out that this needs to be picked up on inspections so we can get it protected before it's too late. We had complaints from neighbours that the tenants were smoking drugs outside the street and then there was a loud party with teenagers running drunk in the street and the police had to attend. We came back a few years later and the new tenants had basically trashed the property. It stank of urine and was covered in mold because they had disabled the extractor fans in all bathrooms. They had repainted without asking, drilled in huge holes into the walls and glued wood to the wall with no nails. Their pets had damaged our wooden floor and carpets. The garden was covered in over 15 dog turds. We sent a very long email telling Northwood how upset we were and the entire team ignored us completely. Davina, Louise and Graham refused to reply. Eventually Graham sent a message saying that they can't tell tenants how to live. We were very upset because this wasn't just untidy but causing damage and this was our family home for years. After 13 years with Northwood and very poor service we decided to give them notice. Their so called tradespeople continually did sub standard work meaning we had to pay for the same job to be done many times over costing us thousands in rotted decking and doors. They replaced bathroom taps and just threw the old taps under the bath. Carpet door strips were nailed on top of old strips and never matched. When we collected the keys nobody bothered to say thanks for using them for all this time. Everybody in the office just ignored me despite me dealing with them over all this time. They said they had done an exit inspection and that the house might just need another tidy up. I went into the house and discovered a disgusting filthy mess which took months and over 40 thousand pounds and four months in lost rent to put right. - House painted without asking and it covered everything including skirting boards and cornice - Wood no nailed so they could hang curtain poles and it tore off the plaster in huge chunks - Carpets infested with fleas from their cat - Custom shelving half painted with gloss but then given up - Filthy scum all inside the oven and kitchen units. Oven dirty beyond repair. - Missing and broken bespoke light fittings - Garage door severely damaged - Plastic cable conduit glued to the walls - Padlock clasps screwed into bedroom doors - Huge crack in bath panel - Argos curtains and blinds left up and ours throw into the loft - Holes drilled and rawl plugs left in but half filled in with Polyfilla I had to pay decorators, electricians, landscapers, carpet fitters to repair and replace everything so it was rentable again. Even the kitchen has to be ripped out because the insides had been used to store something black and it was completely stained. Everything was covered in dog and cat hair as as I said above, infested with fleas. Northwood are a disgrace to rental agents and I would never use them again. Please see photos attached for the state they let the property get into.