Scottish Futures Trust needs to win support of private sector

Commenting on the Scottish Government's proposed Scottish FuturesTrust, the Scottish Property Federation calls on the government not to deter much needed private finance before ensuring the success of the SFT model.

David Hunter, former chairman of the Scottish Property Federation and a President of the British Property Federation, said:

‘If Scotland wishes to achieve higher economic growth then it urgently needs considerable  infrastructure investment.  We believe there are many barriers, both commercial and political, to the creation of the SFT, and we must not turn off the existing tap of private sector investment before we can properly fund and meet our aspirations for major infrastructure investment.

If the government is concerned about excessive profits we believe there is scope within the existing system for profits above an agreed risk adjusted rate of return to be shared with the public sector.'

The Scottish Property Federation also suggests exploring alternative means of raising capital funding, for example through tax increment financing where capital is raised on the back of secure local taxation revenues - such as business rates.

Further information

The full submission may be accessed here. For details about the Scottish Property Federation please see www.scottishpropertyfederation.org.uk or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

For further information contact David Melhuish on 0131 220 6353 or by email at any time on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Scottish Property Federation is administered by the British Property Federation, registration number 778293, England, registered office: 1 Warwick Row, London SW1E 5ER