Sadiq Khan in a somewhat unprecedented move has called for any London home owners in major debt due to hiked mortgage payments and the cost of living crisis, should be allowed to switch tenure.

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The mayor says: “Owners in significant difficulty [should be allowed] to switch their housing tenure to affordable rented or shared equity to allow them to remain in their homes.”

His proposal is included in an extensive lengthy statement from his office calling for the government to immediately help London’s mortgage payers falling into major debt.

The mayor says there are hundreds of thousands of London’s homeowners who will find it impossibly difficult to pay over inflated mortgage payments next year alongside the cost of living catastrophe.

And not forgetting that there are homeowners who have already had to contend with massively increased monthly mortgage payments, Khan’s team claims that its new analysis finds that since last October’s mini-Budget 384,000 London owner occupiers have faced this issue.

Khan refers to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ research found the average additional  monthly cost for London households is now £520, and claims that next year there will be a further 209,000 households facing mortgage interest rates rise as their existing fixed rate deals end.

He wants the government to bring back mortgage payment holidays, to reinstate financial support for mortgage interest via the social security system, allowing owners in major debt to switch their housing tenure to what he calls ‘affordable rented or shared equity’ to stay in their homes.

Khan says: “Many London homeowners already face sizable monthly mortgage payments alongside rising costs and put simply, they are struggling to cope.

“Hundreds of thousands more London households will see their mortgages skyrocket this year and next, with those on lower incomes at greatest risk of defaulting on their mortgage payments, getting into debt, or losing their homes.