Northwood GB Reviews 

Northwood agency Southend branch was very proactive in terms of finding tenants for us. Their service is extremely good and recommended. The staff especially Brian is very approachable and efficient in terms of property management.

LEEDS! Wow! Unbelievable!

I've clearly just dodged a bullet.

Started bad, got worse and I'm a buyer & a landlord of many years with a good reputation and an excellent agent who manages my properties really well.

I'm totally shocked at these reviews especially from tenants. Northwood are seriously appalling!!

Northwood had a property for sale and I viewed it OK and had my offer accepted. The tenants were wanting to stay and had 100% record of paying their rent so I was happy to consider agreeing a new contract with them in situ.

Karen from the start was ringing alarm bells of discomfort. She said my driving licence would not satisfy foto ID rules. When I referred her to Northwoods list of acceptable ID she had to check with colleagues then came back & agreed with me. BAD START!

I explained I would be getting a RICS survey once I received my mortgage offer which was received very quickly.

Karen kept trying to bully me to start the legal process knowing I had already given her my Solicitor's details & was waiting for the contract to arrive.

Karen, vendor (I assume) and my Solicitor know this is just due diligence. No - Karen told me this was not 'normal' and the vendor wouldn't want to wait.

The tenants gave notice so I was happy to go for vacant possession. No - Karen said the vendor didn't want any rent voids?? Karen was pushing me to take over the tenancy asap on completion.

The survey threw up high damp readings and other problems. A summary of the report was not enough for Karen to forward to the vendor and tried again to bully me to provide the detailed report.

I carefully re-considered my own position.

I expressed my willingness to continue if we could agree a reduced purchase price so I could addres the damp etc, fully refurb the property and ensure a safer rental. I said I would share the survey with the vendor to work things out

The tenant had now wanted to extend their tenancy as their toddler was now unwell. I said I could wait to complete until they were ready to leave & secure vacant possession.

Karen seemed livid in her email response. She said the vendor would not consider a price negotiation nor vacant possession. If I did not agree to my original offer the property would go back on the market.

So I withdrew my offer and notified my Solicitor.

I had already decided I would not contract with Northwood to manage this rental. The ID debacle rang bells.
My existing agents were more than happy to have this rental if and when I was ready.

I experienced a massive sense of immediate relief to be rid of Karen's ridiculous emails & rid of Northwood.

Yes. I think I really dodged a bullet!!

There really are excellent landlords and excellent managing agents but not Northwood. I have no idea if the vendor even knows of Karen's bullying behaviour that lost him his sale.

Anyway. No longer my problem.

Northwood manipulates reports, ignores evidence, and treats tenants like criminals at checkout — even when the property is left in better condition. Completely untrustworthy. Would never rent from them again.

Avoid Northwood Sandbach & Crewe – Extremely Disappointing Experience

I want to warn others against renting or buying through Northwood Sandbach & Crewe. I wish I had read the Trustpilot reviews before we rented a property through them.

After moving in, we were shocked to see a For Sale sign outside the house just a month later. We assumed it was a mistake, but when we asked, the agency told us the landlord intended to sell the house with tenants still living there. We were not informed of this beforehand.

To make things worse, the agency started bringing viewers into the property frequently, trying to sell it as soon as possible—while we were still living there. This was already stressful, but things quickly got worse.

The boiler stopped working, leaving us without heating or hot water for two weeks in freezing winter weather. The landlord ignored the issue, and the house began to smell of mould, with mould visibly growing on the walls. When we contacted the agency for help, they simply replied by email: “Deal with the landlord — not our problem.”

Eventually the boiler was fixed, but the problems didn’t stop:
• The kitchen tap was leaking constantly
• The bathroom sink was blocked
• Drainage was broken
• Mould kept spreading across the house

After just five months, we had no choice but to move out. Despite everything, the agency deducted £360 from our deposit for three picture hook holes, and £125 for a garden bed where I had planted wildflowers—for bees!

This entire experience was unacceptable. The property was poorly maintained, the agency was dismissive and unhelpful, and their final charges were completely unfair. I strongly recommend avoiding Northwood Sandbach & Crewe.

The staff were helpful and friendly at the Luton office.
They took care of renting our property and genuinely managed it very well over an eight year period. Would highly recommend them.

MD Keree Doree, doesn't deserve her job or title, tells people to write to her if they have a complaint and then totally ignores the letters, I would strongly advise staying as far away from them as you can, I would rather drown In a bath of my own wee than deal with these people disgusting service.

This company lacks honesty, integrity and professionalism. I would urge tenants and landlords to avoid this company. A tenancy was taken out, when the keys were handed over on site, we pointed out to the manager that it was filthy, dust, dead flies etc. The response was, that it was cleaned but not they cannot meet everyone's expectations. Fast forward to leaving, and they deducted £200 for cleaning costs, when challenged, they tried to pass off photos taken 6 months prior to moving in as evidence of how clean it was. Second point, and extremely serious. They allowed the tenants to move in without an active carbon monoxide detector present. It took 7 to 10 days to install one after it was reported as missing. Their appointed maintenance team actually advised that there wasn't one fitted. When challenged, Norwood claimed that it signed by the Tenant that it was in place and working. I would be more than happy to challenge this lie and cover up with Norwood directly and review the jobs and records that they appointed to their maintenance team which would prove that they lied and covered this up. Keep away from this company

When the tenants moved out last year, the house was left like a pig-sty. The bathroom tiles were black, there was mould on the ceiling in the kitchen and rubbish left in the garage. Clearly no inspections had been carried out. I had to foot the bill for all the work and Northwood told me that they would stop the guaranteed rent until the house was made habitable again.

Avoid at all costs!
My son and daughter-in-law rented a house in Macclesfield. It was their first home, first rental so they were a bit naive I guess. They said the house was dirty when they viewed and there were holes in the wall and multiple picture hooks. I assumed as professional agents that it would be cleaned prior to tenancy but I was wrong. There was a door handle missing, fingernail clippings in the drawers in the bathroom, the hooks remained and the freezer was badly frosted and contained plastic containers of the previous tenants food.

They cleaned for several days because they were excited to start their new home. When I visited I noticed a watermark on the paintwork above the bedroom window and commented that there must have been a previous leak. This leak came to the core on new years eve during a storm. It was reported but Northwood said nobody could look at it for a month! They then said it wasn't a priority as the weather was improving. The wall went mouldy, they were both ill but Northwood didn't care. They got out as soon as they could and Northwood demanded £280 for “cleaning” no invoice provided. 8 hours of cleaning for a two up two down that needs major repairs to the roof! We suspect that they used this to do some of the repairs that they failed to do during the tenancy like repair the gate that came off during a storm. I complained but they just said the house was rented as seen. Shabby service, rubbish properties and absolutely no customer service. Avoid.

Sold my flat in February 2025 with Northwood, Chapel Allerton. Sale went through smoothly with updates along the way . It was one of the very first viewings with Charlotte . Richard originally came to talk me through selling and the valuation basically how it works. Photographs done the following week and a nice video. After sale it’s Karen guiding me through, liaising with my buyer. Took three months and considering mine was a leasehold it went through quickly and seamlessly

Rented with them for almost 10 years. Hardly ever got a reply to an email. Reported various issues including a shed that was disintigrating. Didn't bother to fix it. I had to replace it with no compensation. Asked for trees to be trimmed with no response. Now ive moved out they found a lot of issues which could have been avoided had they bothered to reply to me. Now demanding over £600 to clean the property and weed the garden, this after i had the carpets and oven professionally cleaned. Absolute rip off. DONT use them.

Peterborough branch - Worst estate agents ever, treat their tenants awfully, and when called out on their unfair treatment, they threaten you with further action for defamatory remarks,

I was a landlord with the Wigan office for many years, but after Shaun Farrar—who also owns the Liverpool and Bolton branches—took over, the service significantly declined. Important matters like gas certificates were missed, and there were several other issues. The office became poorly managed, and even the Operations Director admitted that the Branch Manager, Rebecca, wasn’t delivering the level of service expected. After raising my concerns and pointing out their mistakes, they were clearly unhappy and chose to terminate my agreement. Based on my experience, I wouldn’t recommend them to any landlord looking for reliable property management.

Northwood Dulwich treated me terribly when I left the property that I had loyally rented for more 19 months. They tried to claim £585 from my deposit without negotiation for so called professional cleaning and redecoration of the lounge. Thanks to the DPS I managed to recover the majority of my deposit because they exposed the claims to be false. It’s companies like this that tarnish the reputation of honest, trustworthy property management companies. I would not recommend using this company at any cost.

I was a tenant with Northwood, Maidenhead for nearly three years. After vacating the flat in mid-May 2025, I spent over three weeks chasing my deposit with no response from the agency. Despite providing a professional end-of-tenancy cleaning invoice as proof, there was complete silence. Eventually, I received my deposit, but with unexpected deductions — even though the property was professionally cleaned (with an invoice submitted) and no damages were reported.

Mr. Lingam, in particular, has been extremely unprofessional throughout my tenancy. He often employs pressure tactics with tenants—most notably, issuing a Section 21 notice in September 2024, forcing me to accept a rent hike from £1,100 to £1,550—a staggering 41% increase. I felt cornered and had no choice but to comply.

Ironically, after I vacated, the same flat was put on the market at £1,600, only to be reduced to £1,400 when they struggled to find a new tenant. The flat itself is on the 2nd floor with no lift and runs entirely on electricity, leading to high energy bills—£350/month during winter and about £150 otherwise.

Tenants considering a property through Northwood, Maidenhead should be extremely cautious, especially when dealing with Mr. Lingam.

Transparency and professionalism have been seriously lacking in my experience.

Wishing the best to future tenants—please stay vigilant.

As a contractor we are experiencing late payments on invoices or no payments from the Bolton office. It has now got to the point that we will no longer carry out repairs for this letting agent and have to start debt recovery process to get payment for unpaid invoices.

Phillipa at Northwood estate agents is amazing, clear communication, fabulous personality, professional and a pleasure to deal with. Definately recommend phillipa for home rentals Hartshill stoke on trent.

the Peterborough branch is awful, their attitude is truly shameful.
we viewed a property in March 2025, and when submitting the forms and doing the credit checks etc, they literally called us and said we wasted their resources.
Truly awful, trying to find a home is stressful enough and they just added to it, completely knocking our confidence.
We have now been moved into a new lovely property since April 2025 thanks to people who actually care about housing decent tenants.
I am sure they are under some crazy KPIs and SLAs, but you need customers, landlords AND tenants, to reach those… at this rate you will have none

Emma Reid is an absolutely fantastic agent. She is professional, knowledgeable, personable, and genuinely attentive. This was my second time viewing a property with her, and I was impressed not only by her friendly and approachable manner but also by the fact that she remembered me from our previous interaction. That small gesture made me feel valued and showed how committed she is to providing a personal touch.
Emma has a great energy and made the viewing experience smooth and enjoyable. She answered all our questions thoroughly and showed a real understanding of what we were looking for. She truly embodies what a great letting agent should be—knowledgeable, considerate, and easy to communicate with. Highly recommend Emma if you’re looking for someone who genuinely cares and goes the extra mile!

Thank you Emma. :)

The guyes at Northwood were informative and helpful. Quick and efficient communication goes a long way, thank you guys!

Just heads up to anyone going with Northwood, their independant assessors pick up on any little bit after the tenancy has ended, so once you move in, go around the house and document what was there, so you avoid any unnecessary discussions after the end of tenancy check.