Remove FC housing entirely

[Seraphor]

I would say specific plots in a ward should be regarded as a prestige system.
Neighbourhood plots are by design limited, you can't have unlimited versions of the same plots without completely undermining the 'neighbourhood' design. Each ward is made up of 30 distinct physical locations, and some are going to be more popular than others, that's an unavoidable truth.
If you're on board with physical neighbourhoods, then you have to accept this. There is a limited prestige system and it's by design.

But functional features, the ability to use a full garden and full sized house, shouldn't be a prestige system. These aren't cosmetic, they're functional gameplay elements. Apartments provide the same format, but they don't provide the same scope.

And in my experience, FC houses work with the whole neighbourhood dynamic because FC houses are active, members hang out at their FC house. Private houses are largely dead space, because the chances if you visiting someone else's house is already fairly low, and when it happens, the chances of you being there at the same time as them, or anyone else really, is virtually non-existent.
Hence: FC houses should use a neighbourhood system, private houses should be instanced and unrestricted except by player resource, i.e. only limited by Gil. In my opinion.

But there's no reason why private housing shouldn't also interact with this prestige plot system as well. If players want to compete for that prestige individually. But the instanced option as a baseline should be there.