house price solution – Improve all U.K. housing markets locally

20 May, 202511 June, 2025

The house price affordability crisis

“Solving the affordability crisis”

Now that our new government is well established, their primary focus should be on devolving planning and decision-making powers, including deciding residential planning applications, to town councils before the next General Election.“ says Peter Hendry, author of The House Price Solution.

To fully resolve this housing crisis requires the following reforms.
To begin, the planning system should be tilted away from its excessively stringent development control method and instead be moved towards a new, open and locally focused, rules-based zoning system, based on ‘types of user’.

I am saying towns and their associated hinterlands should zone all existing and future housing within their administrative areas into the following specific categories and document these within the current Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDPs). These criteria should all be enshrined within new and upgraded Neighbourhood Development Plans lasting at least for five years at a time.

Demand and supply could easily be brought to balance within each individual town and village concerned by introducing and adopting Enhanced Neighbourhood Development Plans (ENDPs). This page explains the essence of what to do to achieve this. For further explanations please see other posts on this web site.

Balanced demand and supply locally could be achieved for each individual town and village by having an Enhanced Neighbourhood Development Plan (ENDP) fully adopted as being the document to refer to when making planning decisions throughout the validity of the ENDP. Below are the main classifications for use zoning within adopted NDPs.

Owner occupation: (by those working locally or retired)

Affordable to buy: (for those starting off in life and by those working locally)

Private rental: (by those working locally)

Social housing lettings: (by those working locally or retired)

Second homes: (for those not working locally)

Holiday lettings:
(If considered advantageous planning-wise, a mix of these user designations, which should be specific to each individual house, might even be allowed in the same street or location.)

It is becoming clear that all towns with a housing crisis like, for example, St Ives & Porthleven in Cornwall, The South Hams in Devon, Ilfracombe in North Devon (as screened on BBC Spotlight on 30th July 2024), as well as Frome in Somerset and Whitby in North Yorkshire, should canvass for fully devolved planning decision-making powers to be provided to local town councils up and down the whole country.

The towns named above have been in the news lately as being unable to resolve the crisis in housing, endemic in their regions over several decades past, where local workers as well as the retired are concerned. All this despite more powers having been devolved to their county or regional authorities over past years. This strongly suggests a wholly different planning policy is now needed.

Shortcomings such as these ought to be tackled head on. It would seem that this is an issue needing to be raised at the very highest level and without delay. So, I’m including it here as well as referring it to my local MP. You should do the same too if you think there is a similar problem in your local area.
If you want to know what to ask them, ask why they aren’t changing the way houses are both planned for and marketed to finally resolve the poorly performing, over-priced and obdurate housing markets around the whole country?

Town Councils only have the current right to comment on planning applications within their area. They should instead be given the power to decide them. This would be an absolute game-changer.

It should be stressed that the success of the planning process going forward should involve local towns or districts having to draw-up more detailed and specific local Neighbourhood Plans to include use zones within such enhanced local plans whilst still getting these adopted by government.

To put the very early town and country planning acts into perspective, these were designed to bring final decisions on town planning matters under the umbrella of government control in times when the need to legislate during great wars was seen as being essential,

Since the end of the last World War over 70 years have passed and so some of us feel that we should, once again, have adequate say as to what should be built (and where) within our communities.

Though this is logical in democratic society, it would seem to require a ‘brave’ government to relax the degree of planning control they have had to enjoy during those times of armed conflict.

It is reasonable for that to have happened as the preferable outcome in the run up to war but it is a more democratic outcome to allow local communities to develop individualities and distinctiveness in the way they shape their local environment and their economy.

In peacetime (i.e. whilst our country is not at war with another), residential planning consents should therefore be delegated to all local town councils for them to determine, depending upon local housing need. Central government did not take such a hands-on approach . Surely it is high time these measures were devolved to town councils instead of most things being decided by regional authorities and/or The Planning Inspectorate..

This way, genuinely democratic decisions may be arrived at using local decision-makers whom are best able to understand what the current needs of the community are at any particular time.

The other primary change must be to improve the way in which houses are actually marketed, by using registered house agents instead of estate agents. This equally vital change is covered in detail under the article headed. The House Price Solution.

So, here on this web site is the full reasoning explaining what is needed to finally improve all the housing markets across the whole of Britain? If you follow the link below you will find yourself on that very page. Please enjoy this offering and by all means comment if you have thoughts of your own about this.

This site proposes changes to the whole way in which houses are marketed by agents as well as bringing in far more effective planning controls.

For more information on the necessary house marketing changes, go to:

The House Price Solution – Part 1.

“Introducing The House Price Solution”

Posted by: Peter Hendry, Consulting Valuation Surveyor
Author of:– The House Price Solution

Please also note. Unless things change significantly along the lines explained, countless people will continue to experience considerable financial anxiety or pain so, please sign our petition.
The link below opens this is in a new tab for you to look at.

The cost-effective way to stabilise housing affordability across the whole of Britain

Your action in asking our government to debate this could help bring about all of these much needed changes.

15 October, 202424 May, 2025

A one-page synopsis of ‘The House Price Solution’, especially for newcomers

Welcome to The House Price Solution. This web site is campaigning for a change to the new government’s policy on having Top Down housing targets.

The purpose of this website is to stimulate debate and help find, collectively, the best way to bring house prices back to within reach of a majority of those wishing and needing to buy (or indeed rent) housing for themselves and their families.

This is the alternative to simply trying to out-build housing demand, until prices reduce to lower levels; for that will never work!

The full reasoning of these unique proposals can be explained in interview by allowing these proposals and the methods they require, to be adequately explained and discussed.

This is a new and comprehensive planning and marketing solution which can resolve both the above problem and the house price crisis as well. I would ask that this is given due consideration by our new government.

The proposals set out on this website are future generational, based upon a detailed analysis of house price levels by the author as found to exist during historic and damaging economic turbulence in Britain.

The object of these proposals is to replace existing flawed sales and planning methods with new ones, designed to avoid the effects of unwanted future price escalation within all British housing markets. This would be the advantage of deploying The House Price Solution.

Having been in contact with my own MP about it, I am hoping for a referral of my alternative proposal to The Secretary of State at The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. I would like to generate some in-depth discourse on this important and earnest submission before very long. It must be emphasised The House Price Solution is not in any way simply an idealogical fix!

It is hoped that the Civil Service responsible for advising government on housing policy, together with the brave and considerate Labour government which has just been elected, will consider and fully examine these special new policy proposals for remedying the present housing crisis.

The first question to consider is, how can The House Price Solution resolve the housing crisis?

There are two aspects to answering this question. The first is about how to make all local housing markets across Britain work like free-market economic models.

This would involve replacing estate agency as we know it with a new, better and properly licensed service which I am calling Residential House Agents or (RHAs). This is the first radical change. These buyer and renter-advising agents would primarily work for buyers and renters instead of for sellers, as happens at present.

The job of these new Residential House Agents (RHAs) would be not only to sell or indeed let individual owner’s houses but more importantly would find and secure the houses which their contracted client(s) are seeking both for themselves and their families – whether such clients are wishing to buy or to rent.

Individual RHAs working with clients would need to have gained an approved new qualification showing their level of competence. The reason for this is that the existing estate agency service breaks the economic market rules and generally talks prices up. This skews all residential property marketplaces by over-valuing most of the individual houses and flats. This is a fundamental misrepresentation and is damaging all the housing marketplaces across Britain.

What is needed instead is a service that records all genuine offers (whether to buy or to rent), and immediately submits these to the relevant vendor (or the landlord if for rentals), for consideration. After the decision is made and one of the offers is accepted by the vendor or the landlord, the RHA handling this will arrange for a pre-worded lock-out agreement or contract with that vendor as well as with their legal adviser such that they all agree not to accept any other offer for the agreed period of time that it should take for the conveyancing to be concluded (or the tenancy agreement if its a letting). In essence a newly prescribed lock-out agreement.

Once the sale or letting is completed in this way, the RHA would collect their fee from the satisfied buyer or renter, via the solicitor dealing with completing the transaction (or from the landlord if appropriate). See the other articles on the website explaining this in more detail.

One other key advantage of introducing these proposals would be that there would no longer be a need for a Council Tax Revaluation, as this method of valuation would be superseded by the market valuation procedures set down in these new proposals. This, in itself, would save the government a great deal of money as well as civil servant time.

The second radical change, deals with the town and country planning rules relating to residential property. What it proposes is the substantial change necessary to make the best and most efficient use of all housing units, whether already built, or yet to be constructed.

A main reason for this is that housing is in great demand as well as in unprecedentedly short supply. As a result, each viable existing housing unit should be zoned within the local Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), such that whenever that property becomes vacant (and/or changes hands), the appropriate NDP zoning for that house or flat must take effect. For example, if the house was previously used as a second home, but it has subsequently become zoned on the NDP for local housing use, then after the vacation of the property, the new use must comply with the current NDP zoning. Enforcement action could follow wherever this is not the case.

Clearly, because it is the local town council that draws up local NDPs, the best organisation to administer this would be that same one. I therefore propose that all residential planning decisions should be devolved to each local town council for them to determine this exclusively and in accordance with the NDP once adopted.

Demand and supply could easily be brought to balance within each individual town and village concerned by introducing adopted Enhanced Neighbourhood Development Plans (ENDPs). See ‘The House Price Affordability Crisis’ on the web site for more information.

Balanced demand and supply locally could be achieved for each individual town and village by having an Enhanced Neighbourhood Development Plans (ENDP) fully adopted as being the document to refer to when making planning decisions throughout the validity of the ENDP.

This would mean the existing arrangements for regional councils to decide such planning applications would no longer be needed, which is a third radical change, one designed to speed up planning decisions a great deal.

As a result, there would no longer be a need for government planning inspectors to deal with residential planning appeals centrally. In other words there would be no need for an appeal process for individual residential planning matters anymore. This would save inordinate amounts of time as well as great expense and bring much needed clarity, as to exactly which use designation each residential property should have, for the vital benefit of the town including any parishes’ within the local housing economy of course.

This site proposes changes to the whole way in which houses are marketed by agents as well as bringing in far more effective planning controls.

For more information on the necessary house marketing changes, go to:

The House Price Solution – Part 1.

“Introducing The House Price Solution”

Posted by: Peter Hendry, Consulting Valuation Surveyor
Author of:– The House Price Solution

“Solving the affordability crisis”

The cost-effective way to stabilise housing affordability across the whole of Britain

Your action in asking our government to debate this could help bring about all of these much needed changes.

30 June, 20244 June, 2025

The house price crisis, the present dilemma over estate agents, and the politics governing town planning

The result of the general election is the best opportunity to remedy the ongoing house price crisis. It is all about affordability, affordability, affordability for those buying or renting housing to live in, as it forms a major part of the cost of living crisis.

Of course a significant amount of new housing needs to be built to compensate for the growing population but doing that is not going to reduce house prices by much and maybe not by anything at all. The reason for this is explained in our online post headed “The notion that we can build our way out of The Housing Affordability Crisis is ill-conceived, inappropriate and remains untested.”

The following explains the precise reasons why the present house price crisis is manifestly not as a result of the insufficient numbers of new houses being constructed – contrary to widespread belief! Also without additional community infrastructure, substantial new housing will simply worsen the infrastructure shortfall.

It seems that most political parties today support the idea of house prices increasing over time and it also appears that currently, no political parties are prepared to canvass on or sanction a reduction of house prices in their manifestos, even though the increase in house prices to the heady levels we are currently experiencing is as a direct result of the policies which previous governments have been pursuing!

My working experience includes over 30 years as a Chartered Surveyor with a property valuation qualification and during that time I observed the house price trends, both privately and professionally. Having done this I find these price trends strongly suggest that the relentless increase in house prices of past decades is more to do with the way estate agents have been legally allowed to operate against the natural economic market trends for some decades now.

If one considers, even for a short while, why it is that the general public maintain such a low opinion of estate agents, the answer to this quickly becomes plain.

It is that estate agents have been and still are, in reality, treading on the toes of those trying to get clear advice for knowing the correct market price of each residential property they are concerned with, whether it’s being bought, or sold.

This is because estate agents are trying to advise their contractual clients, the sellers, as to the best price they may be able to achieve, yet at the same time they are trying to help the buyers by basically doing precisely the same, namely advising them all about the prices they (the sole agent) have in their minds’ eye for the property which they are wishing to sell at the time! This is providing a distorted view of true or current market values, which is how market prices are continually being distorted.

In other words, what is actually happening is that estate agents basically guess at a price that a particular property might sell for in the market and, they tend to guess high so as to try not to bring themselves into disrepute; an uncomfortable situation for any organisation to find themselves in at any one time let alone all the time.

In addition, as they are mostly paid on a percentage of the price attained, they usually try and get as much as they can from each prospective buyer, even if there are sometimes no genuine or actual ‘other’ offers being submitted! It is simply too tempting for them to do this and bolster their fee; however best intentioned they may well aim to be.

This shows that estate agents, as advisers, cannot reliably assist either the seller, or the buyer with accurate market value analysis, because of the situation in which they find themselves, with their primary responsibility favouring the vendor.

The only solution to overcome the resultant adverse market position which the house-owning and renting public find themselves grappling with, is to campaign for a change to the way residential estate agents operate, by making them primarily responsible to professionally advise each buyer, (or each renter if the house is for rent), as to the price any particular property can attract in current open market conditions.

To do this estate agents would have to be made essentially to contract with each buyer (or each renter), and no longer have any business contracts dealing with potential selling, or letting clients at all.

This simple change would bring untold and immense improvement by restoring open market conditions for residential property being bought or sold on the market as well as being rented or let.

Not to change this now would simply allow the present regime to continue unabated. The tragedy, i.e. that of accelerating house prices, if allowing such a thing to happen, should now be plain for all to see. This is what we are experiencing, the present and extreme house price crisis. Available finance to buy at such historically high prices is another significant factor which is helping to stabilise house prices at the levels being negotiated by all the selling agents.

Extremely high house prices like these are factually connected with three of the other top 5 issues for voters. This elevates the housing crisis to become one of the top priorities now requiring a swift solution.

No political party taking part in the 2024 general election has, in its party manifesto, a realistic proposal to deal with house price levels which are now in a very substantial crisis, when taking into account the relatively low average yearly earnings benchmark, certainly regarding wages within England and Wales.

It must, of course, be accepted that changing the way houses are currently marketed will receive staunch objection by those in the present estate agency sector. Instead of attempting to agree or disagree however, it would be better that such important matters as these should be the subject of constructive dialogue in order to arrive at an acceptable and improvement solution. As the author of The House Price Solution I would like to take part in any such discussions.

The other equally important change necessary to peg house prices back to reasonably affordable levels is to make changes to the town and country planning rules such that local town councils should decide all residential planning applications within their designated areas using Enhanced and adopted Neighbourhood Development Plans (ENDPs). This would bring much needed housing to the exact locations within the towns and parishes where extra housing is most needed, especially for local working families. This aspect is fully covered on the other posts within this web site.

The political party that is handed the mantle of governing our country should not only understand the dilemma which everyone is in housing-wise, (namely that average house prices are now well in excess of 15 times yearly average earnings), but that the new government should be able to properly understand the housing markets’ economic landscape and resolve to develop and use this necessary wisdom combined with the powers they will have.

It is becoming clear that all towns with a housing crisis like St Ives & Porthleven in Cornwall, The South Hams in Devon, Ilfracombe in North Devon (as screened on BBC Spotlight on 30th July 2024), as well as Frome in Somerset and Whitby in North Yorkshire, should canvass for fully devolved planning decision-making powers to be provided to local town councils up and down the whole country.

Shortcomings such as these ought to be tackled head on. It would seem that this is an issue needing to be raised at the very highest level and without delay. So, I’m including it here as well as referring it to my local MP. You should do the same too if you think there is a similar problem in your local area.
If you want to know what to ask them, ask why they aren’t changing the way houses are both planned for and marketed, to finally resolve the poorly performing, over-priced and obdurate housing markets around the whole country?

It is important to understand that house prices are variable but should broadly relate to average yearly earning levels locally, taking into account other things such as current interest rates and acceptable mortgage term lengths. However, this can only happen once the housing markets are operating as they should, i.e. operating as arms length markets in accordance with, free market economic fundamentals.

Anyone may add their own comments to this blog if they wish to, whether in support, or otherwise and are warmly invited to do so.

This site proposes changes to the whole way in which houses are marketed by agents as well as bringing in far more effective planning controls.

For more information on the necessary house marketing changes, go to:

The House Price Solution – Part 1.

“Solving the affordability crisis”

Posted by: Peter Hendry, Consulting Valuation Surveyor
Author of:– The House Price Solution

A recent article (21st May 2025), which is of particular interest by supporting our argument, was published by The Independent newspaper. This can be read by subscribing to The Independent and searching for:

Helen Coffey
Senior Lifestyle Features Writer

“Nothing is more stressful than Britain’s housing market“

Please also note. Unless things change significantly along the lines explained, countless people will continue to experience considerable unwanted financial anxiety and difficulty so, please also sign our petition.
The link below opens this is in a new tab for you to look at.

The cost-effective way to stabilise housing affordability across the whole of Britain

Your action in asking our government to debate this could help bring about all of these much needed changes.

5 December, 201314 May, 2025

This House Price Solution is devised to resolve the current housing crisis and is a cost-effective way to stabilise housing affordability across the whole of Britain – Part 2

Part 2 of The House Price Solution:

Below is a further or 2nd explanation of the new ‘RHA’ or Registered House Agent’s strategy using the House Price Solution.

This House Price Solution is devised to resolve the current housing crisis and is a cost-effective way to stabilise housing affordability across the whole of Britain.

The following is a technical section of this blogpost. It sets out the methodology of the proposed new Residential Housing Agents, as compared with the workings of the present estate agency model.
It is presented for further discussion and consideration on the cost-effective ways to stabilise housing affordability across the whole of Britain

Anyone wishing to contribute their own ideas is welcome to but they should include a resume of their real estate qualifications and experience, if they wish their suggestions to be included in this online policy development formulation. Their contact information is also required, so that any necessary clarification of the meaning and effect of their proposals may be obtained. Such contact information is not intended to be published as part of their ideas without formal permission for that first having been obtained from them. Constructive comments based on this are, of course, very much welcomed.

In order to become more even-handed in their dealings, and so be of better service to all of their clients, estate agents must start acting primarily for buyers rather than sellers, instead of only for sellers or vendors.

This means traditional estate agents would need to become involved primarily in searching for and introducing the present seller to their next property (as buyer), as well as assisting in the sale of their existing house (if any).

To do this the forward purchaser’s agent would become the agent that negotiates both the terms of purchase of the next property and the terms of sale of the house to be sold as part of the move. We’re calling these ‘RHAs or Registered House Agents’. They would, in fact, be advising the buyer as their client on both finding and selling houses in this explanation.

In order for this to happen, estate agents must stop using sole selling contracts and begin offering agency ‘Moving Contracts’ or ‘MC agreements’ for their clients instead.

This would mean that the primary work of the estate agent (as RHA) would become to locate and then introduce acceptable houses for each buying client, whilst at the same time, retain responsibility for negotiating the sale of the client’s existing property – the one to be disposed of as part of the proposed move but only by acting for a new buyer. One thing this solution can do is to massively reduce the rate of sales chain failures.

To explain how this would work in practice, let’s use the term ‘the subject property’ to mean the house being sold, and the term ‘the object property’ to mean the house to be purchased.

Two new documents would be involved with this new process :
An ‘MC agreement’ entered into by buyers initially just with one agent, or a series of ‘MC agreements’ with different Registered House Agents (instead of just having a ‘sole agency selling contract’ with one specific estate agent as generally happens now).

A pre-contract ‘lock-out or reservation agreement’ with a set time duration, during which the vendor of the property concerned could not accept other offers until the specified lapse-time occurs without incurring defined penalties. These would primarily be aimed at the vendor if they should default without just cause, but some form of recompense, payable to the vendor, ought also to be reserved in the event that the buyer was the party that decided to withdraw prior to actual exchange of contracts.

Clearly, all buyers would be advised to ensure that property surveys will first have been carried out and are satisfactory, regarding the object properties being bought, before signing their lock-out or reservation agreements. Having a professional survey is normally advised for most types of residential property being purchased anyway.

Once the whole scenario is fully understood and implemented, these new methods would prove to be self explanatory and perfectly straightforward to follow.

The following is an explanation of the logistics of the process, whilst looking forwards, by going up the sales or lettings chain.

Vendor 1 sells to Buyer 1 (that’s property 1 of course); with buyer 1’s solicitor doing the conveyancing.
Then, when Vendor 1 goes to buy forward they become Buyer 2 (of property 2 ); buying from Vendor 2 (with Vendor 2 and Buyer 2’s solicitors doing the conveyancing, as is usual).
The new bit is that Buyer 2’s solicitor pays the RHA out of funds provided by Buyer 2. (The seller pays no separate fee.)
Then to progress further up the chain, Vendor 2 becomes Buyer 3 (of property 3); and buys from Vendor 3 (with Vendor 3 and Buyer 3’s solicitors doing the conveyancing, again as usual).
Once again the new bit is that Buyer 3’s solicitor pays the RHA out of funds provided by Buyer 3: – and so it continues all the way up the chain.

As explained, each separate vendor signs two lock-out or reservation agreements, each one involving buyers of different properties.
The primary lock-out or reservation agreement is with the vendor of the property they have agreed terms to purchase.
The second lock-out or reservation agreement is with the purchaser of the property they currently own and wish to sell.

NB. Under the revised arrangements, no selling agent fees are involved anymore in either case of course. The buyer’s solicitor will arrange payment of the buyer’s RHA fees, on satisfactory completion of the actual sale and purchase – where previously the vendor’s solicitor paid the vendor’s estate agent.

To reiterate, it should be noted, the ‘RHA or Registered House Agent’ is always paid on completion by the buyer (instead of by the seller as happens now).

Each agent that was working on the ‘sale’ of each property, would simply be informed, generally by the specific vendor or through their solicitors, when to stop marketing at the appropriate time. That is, after a lock-out or reservation agreement has been signed by them. This is broadly what happens currently, after terms are provisionally agreed by each vendor.

(If deemed important in the particular situation at hand, relevant ‘RHAs or Registered House Agents’ could, of course, be asked to endorse the specific lock-out or reservation agreement concerned, for added clarification.)

To explain again, this would mean there will be a need for two lock-out or reservation agreements to be signed by each vendor.

The first with the purchaser of the property that they are in the process of buying.
The second, between themselves and purchaser of the property which they are simultaneously selling.

It should be emphasised however, that each buyer should always sign the lock-out or reservation agreement relating to the house they wish to buy first.
They should sign the lock-out or reservation agreement for the house they are selling second. Both would, of course, generally be signed at the solicitors office, one immediately after the other.

Doing this should not be any more complicated than owners signing the various legally binding pre-contract papers which they currently need to sign.

This process must involve each vendor hearing from and responding to the two different solicitor’s firms involved. It would of course be feasible for their own solicitors to deal with this much as at present.

Part 3 of The House Price Solution:
For a 3rd (or final) explanation of this unique proposal please click on the following link.

The House Price Solution 3rd (or final) explanation

Posted by: Peter Hendry, Consulting Valuation Surveyor
Author of:– The House Price Solution

If there remain outstanding questions relating to my proposals I’d be glad to discuss these.