THE often fraught experience of buying a home has come under the microscope in a hard-hitting book from a property industry insider.

Jon Charters-Reid, a former apprentice trained joiner at York Minster who has been a chartered surveyor for more than 20 years, said he had a number of key aims in writing How To Be A Smarter House Buyer.

These included making public his concerns about the way the housing market operates, and helping people cope with the complexities of choosing and purchasing a new home.

His book is often highly critical of aspects of the present system - ranging from the way houses are built to how decisions are made about mortgages.

Mr Charters-Reid said he believed many people were not well informed about how the housing market worked, adding it had changed greatly in recent years.

He starts the book with chapters looking at what he claims is the “broken” housing market due to corporate pressures, moving on to cover the challenges of buying a house, various issues around smarter purchasing and “campaigning for a healthier housing market”, ending with a plea for small businesses and a short article from York lawyer Peter Gibson, managing director of Coles Solicitors.

“I have written that book to make a point, this is all the things that are out there,” said Mr Charters-Reid.

“I’m saying it now to try and be helpful and make people realise that the housing market is very complicated and that’s why you need to be a smarter house buyer.”

He had been considering writing a book for many years, even before the “credit crunch” and subsequent recession. “It’s my passion, I feel very strongly about it.

“I think it can be fixed, but it’s just taking the right approach.

“Why is it like this? Because it’s always been done that way, and nobody can be bothered to change. We need to be more forward-thinking and innovative.”

Changes he wanted to see included the way finances were calculated, with people knowing the value of their house with a “proper survey”, and a switch to the Scottish system where deals were more binding.

He praised City of York Council for being “innovative”, but believed the planning system should be changed to be more specific about what would be allowed in an area, with no further planning decisions necessary once that was done.

Mr Charters-Reid also urged people to use local firms when house-buying - whether independent financial advisers, surveyors or solicitors.

l How To Be A Smarter House Buyer is available at Waterstone’s , on Amazon and from YPD Books in York.