John Blackwood, (pictured) Chief Executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL), has warned of dire repercussions for the private rented sector is his country's Government pushes on with its planned national rent freeze this Autumn.

'Since rumours of this announcement broke this morning, I have been inundated by landlords saying they will be removing their vacant properties from the rental market, and I don'�t blame them.'�

'Who on earth is going to let a property in the knowledge that they will be unable to meet their own financial and maintenance obligations if their tenants don'�t pay the rent or their outgoings increase?'�

'Instead of helping tenants pay their bills, the Scottish Government has chosen to penalise people who have provided the homes politicians have failed to provide for decades.'�

Failing to grasp

'Once again the Scottish Government fails to grasp the reality of Scotland'�s housing crisis and has chosen the easy option of attacking landlords for political reasons which will only further reduce the supply of housing, putting more people at risk. This is not a solution, it will only cause more hardship.

'In just a few weeks, we will see more stories of students and others who can'�t find suitable accommodation. We warned of this last year and nothing was done but no one should be in any doubt where the blame for that new crisis will lie. It will be at the door of Bute House.'�

'Despite reassurances from Scottish Ministers that they value the role private landlords play in provided much-needed housing, we are astounded that once again they have chosen to attack landlords at a time when they should be encouraging landlords and tenants to work together to overcome financial hardship.'�