Lib Dems promise loans for under-30 renters

The Lib Dems have made a pitch for generation rent this morning. As increasing numbers of young professionals put off their dreams of owning a house many are struggling to pay exorbitant deposits on expensive rented properties – often a month or two of rent.

The Lib Dems are proposing offering loans to help young people renting pay their deposit. Mirroring the coalition’s house buying scheme the Libs are calling this offer “Help to Rent.”

Under the scheme young people aged 18 to 30 could get a government loan of up to £1,500, or £2,000 in London to help them get their feet on the renting ladder.

Mr Clegg said: “You’ve got this generation that is sometimes called “the clipped wing generation”, or “the boomerang generation”, of an increasingly large numbers of youngsters – I think the estimates are now about two million people in their 20s and 30s – who simply can’t find the money needed for a deposit to rent a flat or home of their own.”

However, like the other announcements this morning – today has already been branded “Freebie Friday” – it is unfunded.