History
The business began in August 1995, with a small office located on the south coast of the UK in Portsmouth, Hampshire by Andrew Goodson.
Northwood was initially called 'Residential Lettings' and offered purely the guaranteed rent product. The complimentary traditional letting services were introduced in 1997 to sit alongside the guaranteed rent offering.
The Franchise Company was formed in 1999 and the first office (then called Residential Lettings) was opened in Milton Keynes by Steve Frost.
The company changed its name in 2002 from Residential lettings to Northwood but kept the ‘keys’ Logo, until its rebrand in 2005 to the current Northwood brand and Logo with coincided with the introduction of Estate Agency throughout England and Wales.
The business has grown in terms of Guaranteed Rent, but also traditional lettings and sales services. In 2013, Managing Director, Nick Cooper lost his battle with pancreatic cancer and was succeeded by well-known industry figure, Eric Walker, who was recruited by Nick himself. Walker was previously Group Managing Director of Bushells, a well respected London Estate and Lettings Agency. Northwood is currently expanding with a significant number of new offices planned.
In 2016, Northwood was acquired by Belvoir plc which is now the largest property franchise group in the UK managing in excess of 56,000 properties.
Northwood first filed for a community trade mark (CTM) on the name Northwood in 2002 which continues to be renewed.
Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership. An example of renting is equipment rental. Renting can be an example of the sharing economy.
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged in the marketing of property available for sale, and a solicitor or licensed conveyancer is used to prepare the legal documents. In Scotland, however, many solicitors also act as estate agents, a practice that is rare in England and Wales.
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant. When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner. The term landlady may be used for female owners, and lessor may be used regardless of gender. The manager of a pub in the United Kingdom, strictly speaking a licensed victualler, is referred to as the landlord/lady.
Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee.
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial or business equipment is also leased.
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a leasehold estate is typically considered personal property.
Property management is the operation, control, and oversight of real estate. Management indicates the need of real estate to be cared for, monitored and accountability for its useful life and condition. This is much akin to the role of management in any business.
A rental agreement is a contract of rental, usually written, between the owner of a property and a renter who desires to have temporary possession of the property; it is distinguished from a lease, which is more typically for a fixed term. As a minimum, the agreement identifies the parties, the property, the term of the rental, and the amount of rent for the term. The owner of the property may be referred to as the lessor and the renter as the lessee.
Buy-to-let is a British phrase referring to the purchase of a property specifically to let out, that is to rent it out. A buy-to-let mortgage is a mortgage loan specifically designed for this purpose. Buy-to-let properties are usually residential but the term also encompasses student property investments and hotel room investments.
A leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT) was a statutory tribunal in England which determined various types of landlord and tenant dispute involving residential property in the private sector. An LVT consisted of a panel of three; one with a background in property law ; one with a background in property valuation generally a qualified surveyor; and a layman, although some decisions of an LVT were decided by a single member. LVTs were non-departmental public bodies.
In the field of commercial real estate, especially in the United States, a net lease requires the tenant to pay, in addition to rent, some or all of the property expenses that normally would be paid by the property owner. These include expenses such as property taxes, insurance, maintenance, repair, and operations, utilities, and other items. These expenses are often categorized into the "three nets": property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. In US parlance, a lease where all three of these expenses are paid by the tenant is known as a triple net lease, NNN Lease, or triple-N for short and sometimes written NNN.
Under the provisions of the United Kingdom Housing Act 2004 every landlord or letting agent that takes a deposit for an assured shorthold tenancy in England and Wales must protect the deposit under an authorised tenancy deposit scheme. The regulations came into effect on 6 April 2007, and were amended by the Localism Act 2011, taking effect from 6 April 2012. The Deregulation Act 2015 further amended the regulations from 26 March 2015.
Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) is a government agency that protects and promotes the interests of consumers and is based in the Australian state of Victoria. It is responsible for reviewing and advising the Victorian Government on consumer legislation and industry codes; advising and educating consumers, tenants, traders and landlords on their rights, responsibilities and changes to the law; registering and licensing businesses and occupations; conciliating disputes between consumers and traders, tenants and landlords; and enforcing and ensuring compliance with consumer laws. It is a business unit of the Department of Justice and Community Safety.
A letting agent is a facilitator through which an agreement is made between a landlord and tenant for the rental of a residential property. This is commonly used in countries using British English, including countries of the Commonwealth. In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, the agreement between landlord and tenant is normally formalised by the signing of a tenancy agreement. A letting agency will normally charge a commission for their services, usually a percentage of the annual rent.
UK Property Shop Ltd – trading as UK Property Shop – publishes an online directory of UK Estate Agents and Letting Agents known as The National Directory of Estate Agents.
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is a UK Act of Parliament on English land law. It sets bare minimum standards in tenants' rights against their landlords.
Rent guarantee Insurance is a form of underwriting through which landlords can be protected against loos of rent if the lessee defaults. Globally, most firms offer this protection through regulated insurance companies, to ensure that the provider can make good on promises of payment.Normally, 'Landlord Rent Guarantee Insurance' is combined with 'Legal Assistance Insurance' whereby a landlord's legal costs of recovering rent and/or evicting a non-paying tenant are covered.
Landlord–tenant law is a part of the common law that details the rights and duties of landlords and tenants. It includes elements of both real property law and contract law.
Lurot Brand a London-based estate agent and letting agency which offer services for buying, selling mews, renting and managing property. It was started in 1971 and has expanded gradually since then. It also publishes Mews News, a quarterly published online & print journal. It is known for specializing in mews house sales and lettings.
Zero Deposit is a UK based deposit-free renting platform with its headquarters in Hertfordshire, UK. It provides an insurance backed guarantee underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance SE and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which allows tenants to pay less upfront when renting.
