Going persistent before Housing would be a big mistake. The big guilds need to have something to distract from otherwise lacking content and territory-control and housing is perfect for that.
We need claritity in definitons.
Keeps = Distinct crumbled keeps in the world (16 afaik) which can be claimed and rebuilt by guilds, fought over, captured, which also allow for controlling territory.
Housing = Personal housing, individuals being able to build personal houses in any location, customize houses, decorate, even custom build layouts. Henrik has been clear that personal housing is both waaaaaay more work than keeps simply due to need for huge amounts of assets and thus lower priority.
If we are talking about things for "guilds to do", it makes sense for them to prioritize keeps, which are I believe very high priority along with auction house as next big items.