A Labour member of the Scottish Parliament says a Yes vote for independence in next month's Scottish referendum will lead to lower investment in the private rented sector.
James Kelly - shadow Scottish cabinet secretary for infrastructure, investment and cities strategy - is critical of the fact that only just over two pages of the recently-issued 670-page Scottish White Paper on the referendum is given over to housing. Even within that, most of the space is dedicated to social housing, housing benefit and energy efficiency.
Kelly says the lack of detail about how the private market will fare under independence is deterring investors and a report by Jones Lang LaSalle has shown house builders believe independence will lead to less construction he has told the National Landlords Association.
Combined with uncertainty over the currency and central bank of a separate Scotland, this means less investment in the sector he claims.
Under the current devolved system, rather than outright independence, there have been substantial changes to the housing sector north of the border. A new progressive Stamp Duty Land Tax is replacing Stamp Duty in Scotland from next April while a so-far unspecified new Scottish rate of income tax has also been approved by Westminster, to be introduced in 2016 regardless of the referendum result.
But Kelly claims that uncertainties over currency and the credit rating of an independent Scotland, and whether the Bank of England will limit Scotland's ability to set its own interest rates, remain key concerns for landlords.
The private rented sector under devolution shows Scotland has the best of both worlds, with distinct housing legislation delivered in Holyrood, combined with the security and investment which comes from being part of the larger UK economy insists Kelly.
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