I understand the reasoning behind making personal claims more expensive, because you want to encourage group play. Well I think most players who have personal claims also are part of a guild, so personal claims just add the concept of hamlets surrounding a castle or realm. There is no reason to punish players for wanting their own private place in addition to being in a guild.
The current cost of 1 gold lasting only 10 RL days for a 10x10 claim is just really exorbitant. First, 10x10 is really small when you consider the size of buildings. Second, making alts that also have to pay that much, just to give yourself more room to grow is too penalizing imho.
Please consider reducing the upkeep cost for personal claims.