Would Scottish property be more attractive under independence?

[nmb]

The Scottish government is pushing very hard for independence in the medium term and the recent UK referendum on EU membership has perhaps brought forward this timetable. Do you think Scottish property would be more attractive under an independence banner? Or would the potential risks of going it alone outweigh the potential rewards for property?

 

[lookinginvest]

When you bear in mind the doom and gloom surrounding Scotland at the moment could the property market be any worse under independence?

 

[PropEx]

I'm not sure why Sturgeon thinks she is speaking for the majority of Scottish people when she is asking for yet another referendum, to be honest. They were soundly beaten a couple of years ago and that is the way is should remain. To get back on topic, I think that maybe yields would be good under independence in the short term but there would always be that niggling doubt that Scotland aren't big enough to do it alone and the whole country could crumble let alone just the property sector.

 

[lookinginvest]

It could end up like some areas of the North East of England where there is limited capital appreciation but very attractive rental yields. One issue going forward is the dependence on oil which, although the politicians tried to deny this, would have blown a massive hole in the budget of an independent Scotland. Green energy is very big in Scotland but is this really viable longer term without taxpayer subsidies?

 

[Longterminvestor]

The threat of independence has been overdone, with the UK government still having to give approval for a second independence referendum. In the short term this has impacted inward investment in Scotland and had a detrimental impact upon property prices although this impact does vary quite widely. As a consequence, there may be some very interesting buy to let opportunities attracting high rental yields.

However, the underlying concerns regarding the economic and financial strength of an independent Scotland will always be there in the background until this independence referendum is put to bed, one way or another.