THE Treasury has clawed back almost £350 million from Scotland in 15 years in housing benefits saved by greater spending on social housing north of the Border, according to the SNP.

Basing its claims on research by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, the SNP say the Treasury has taken the proceeds from £345.5m saved in growth in housing benefit expenditure since 1999 - cash that might be reinvested in more housing in Scotland.

The figure is based on what Scotland would have received had growth in housing benefit expenditure matched the rest of the UK.

The research cites a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in 2013 stating that "the Scottish Government is bearing the cost of greater investment in social housing and lower rents, whilst some of the benefits of that spending accrue to the UK Government in the form of lower housing benefit payments".

The trend is set to continue, with the recent draft Scottish Budget looking to spend £390m on 6,000 more affordable homes and a further £125m of support for the housing sector.

The SNP's Jamie Hepburn said: "This research underscores there is a fundamental imbalance in Scotland's current powers that needs to be addressed. If decisions to invest in housing policy in Scotland lead to a saving in welfare spending, it should be Scotland rather than the Westminster treasury that sees the benefit.

He added: "Ensuring that Scotland gains responsibility for the tax and welfare decisions that are interlinked with policies like this will mean that Scotland sees the financial benefit of the policy decisions we make."