Northwood Exeter

I can highly recommend Mark at Northwood. We purchased our home through them in November and Mark was extremely helpful, polite and courteous. Nothing was too much trouble and he always answered our questions and was prompt at calling us back when he said he would. We would definitely use Northwood if we decide to move again! Thank you so much for helping our move go smoothly as it could.

The house we rented had multiple issues which were either not resolved or completed to a poor standard. The landlord (who was also the owner of Northwood) also took every opportunity to squeeze every penny out of our deposits when we left - even for issues which were present when we arrived.

Rented with them for 5 years, over all good, got my all deposit back. Thank you Northwoods 👍

Only gave one star because no option for Zero. Avoid these agents like the plague. Unprofessional, unhelpful and have caused 6 months of hell for myself and my partner. Worst agents I have ever dealt with.

They did not turn up for a house viewing appointment. I tried to call their office, they did not answer. Left voicemails at their office to ask what had happened, they did not come back to me.

We told Northwood agency we were looking for a long term renting as a big family and they said "yes sure no problem" property is a long term let. After 11 months before Christmas we got information about the landlord wanted to sell his property. They even did not mention about a Open house day. Guy over the phone just said"i am sure we mentioned that"No they did. Not. But we are not English so maybe he thought we do not understand English. It was very stressful time. We updated property... Clean the moulds in the bathroom and living room... Put a nice wallpaper... Wiped down a dust on the lampshades (1cm thick) when we moved in
but at the end we had to pay 150 pounds for "destroyed slabs in the garden"??? Till now I do not know about what were they talking about.Hope they improved themselves since then.

To protect my identity I have hid my actual name but in a nutshell you won’t get your deposit back. They’ll take half if not more. Ask for actual invoices of damages done otherwise the owner will take the mick out of you the tenant

Do not use Northwood for lettings! Read on for tips to not get scammed by letting agents.

On checking out, my housemates and I requested to get the deposit back from the deposit protection scheme. However, there was no response after 10 days (which they should respond after 10 days unless they want to raise a dispute to deduct your deposit). I called Northwood (Will was the one who responded) and he didn’t sound too happy about it, his tone sounded irritable which is odd because the money is ours to begin with and we are your clients! Will claimed on the phone that there were “loads of things to be cleared out” and when I asked what it was exactly, he said “an array of things such as clothes”.

Now mind you, we took a video of the house before and after moving in, including the exterior and the front and back gardens. They were time stamped and there was absolutely no rubbish and belongings and we cleaned it extremely well. He said that they will be charging us and that the landlord will be collecting evidence. Well, go on then, we would definitely like to challenge the clothes that you were talking about.

Also, future tenants please note. TENANTS IN ENGLAND SHOULD NOT BE CHARGED CLEANING FEES WHEN MOVING OUT. EVEN IF CLEANING FEES WERE MENTIONED IN AGREEMENTS, THEY CANNOT BE ENFORCED SINCE THE INTRODUCTION OF TENANTS FEES ACT 2019. IF THEY DO CHARGE YOU, THEY CAN BE FACED WITH FINES UP TO £5000.

Though there were no clothes left by us, I would like to also mention that whilst rubbish during the stay was responsible by the tenants, any rubbish left upon moving out is RESPONSIBLE BY THE LANDLORD/LETTING AGENT.

Usually I would avoid leaving bad reviews like this as it simply waste my time and energy. However, Northwood so kindly sent and forwarded an email stating that the landlord is not going to deduct anything this year as a “covid goodwill gesture”. It seems like this has been happening for a while now. I would also like to mention that there is no goodwill gesture going on, we are just taking back OUR money and your claim of us not clearing a wide array of items like clothing DOES NOT WARRANT ANY DEDUCTIONS.

Even to the last email, you were adamant about charging us and you ONLY returned the deposit because you know that we have video evidence of a clean house and not one littered with clothing. I would be really curious to see your evidence that we have clothes left behind and maybe we can pick these clothes up someday to donate to the charity.

For people looking to rent houses, refer to the TENANT FEES ACT 2019 to see your rights and what can or cannot be charged. Challenge your landlords or agents if they do charge you illegally, or simply just report them. ALWAYS take video evidence before and after moving in.