Open Market homeowners have received a letter of explanation and reassurance from the Environment and Infrastructure Committee.

The letter, sent just before Christmas, explains that the committee wants to restore Open Market property numbers without denting a home's value by flooding the market with a glut of properties.

Currently, there are just under 1,500 homes on the Open Market and E&I wants that figure to return to around 1,700 in the medium to long term.

It says it thinks that only a few, brand new or highly-renovated homes, will be added each year, - to avoid a slump in the value of other homes.

In light of the letter, deputy Mark Helyar, the former treasury lead, asked a series of questions of E&I, under Rule 14.

In its detailed response, the committee's confirmed the 'inscription' process to apply to put a local market home onto the Open Market is still open. However, it won't be reviewing any applications until its revised policy is published in late January.

It costs £500 to apply to change the status of a property, yet a successful inscription can add considerable value almost overnight, sometimes several million pounds.

The committee said it had heard evidence that a small group of people were allegedly trying to exploit a legal loophole and that the review of policy will close.

It is expected that the review will substantially increase the inscription fee.