Hundreds of Land Registry employees have voted to strike after being informed to work from their workplaces for 3 days per week, which can hit the anticipated surge in housebuying exercise forward of stamp responsibility adjustments later this 12 months.
The Public and Industrial Providers union stated its members voted for industrial motion after the division knowledgeable staff that hours labored from dwelling can be reduce.
The union says 3,800 employees primarily based in 14 workplaces throughout England and Wales are affected.
The vote for strike motion got here final Friday, with the union including that employees had been additionally involved in regards to the authorities division “inappropriately utilizing private knowledge and having to just accept further tasks with out further pay”.
PCS common secretary Fran Heathcote says: “The federal government doesn’t appear to be taught that making use of arbitrary targets on workplace attendance doesn’t improve productiveness and is unpopular with employees members.
“If they need a motivated, hard-working workforce, ministers ought to belief their very own staff to have some say over their working circumstances, moderately than appearing like Victorian bosses.
“It’s not too late for administration to keep away from strike motion by ending this dispute.”
The union is but to stipulate when any strikes could happen.
The transfer comes forward of an anticipated surge in homebuying within the run-up to the stamp responsibility adjustments initially of April, which is able to see reduction on the levy not prolonged for first-time consumers paying as much as £425,000 for a house.
Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner says: “Upcoming adjustments to stamp responsibility are more likely to generate volatility, as consumers carry ahead their purchases to keep away from the extra tax.
“This can result in a soar in transactions within the first three months of 2025, particularly in March.”
The Land Registry says the transfer is in keeping with authorities protocols which say that 60% minimal workplace attendance for many employees is the very best working stability for civil servants.
The division spokesman provides: “We’ve constantly delivered important companies corresponding to searches, registrations (together with expedites), and buyer contact throughout earlier intervals of commercial motion and there’s no purpose why any potential future motion ought to influence any forthcoming transactions.”
“We are going to proceed to evaluate our processes and can inform our prospects of the measures we are going to put in place, if and when any industrial motion is named by the PCS union.”
The company provides that the employees info it makes use of “is performance-related knowledge and never private knowledge”.
