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Land Registry strike "will create huge problems in the run-up to the stamp duty changes in April"

ended 30. December 2024

Civil servants at the Land Registry, who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCU), have voted to strike after being ordered to attend the office for three days a week. Property, conveyancing and mortgage experts have said that any strike will accentuate already severe delays in property transactions and “create huge problems in the run-up to the stamp duty changes in April”.

10 responses from the Newspage community

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Adam Stiles
Managing Director at Helix Financial Partners
Some registrations at the Land Registry are already taking 12-24 months. These delays are having a meaningful impact on property transactions to the detriment of everyone involved. Adding in strikes will not only exacerbate an already arduous and frustrating situation, it will create huge problems in the run-up to the stamp duty changes in April.
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Ben Perks
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
Any private sector business that was a year behind on orders would go bump spectacularly and be considered a catastrophic failure. The Land Registry is a failing organisation and the powers that be are trying to save it. If they feel they can monitor productivity and improve service by getting people back into the office, so be it. The staff may not like it, and I sympathise if they signed up with the sole intention of WFH, but if they were in any other business with mirrored performance they’d be out on the street.
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Chris Barry
Director at Thomas Legal
The backlog at the Land Registry is already at record highs with some registrations taking as long as 24 months. Strike action will make this situation far worse, which will be of great concern to anyone attempting to make changes to their property ownership. Transactions subject to a mortgage or sale can be expedited, which is usually turned around within a few weeks. I am however concerned the more urgent cases may affect people's ability to complete if expedited matters take a back seat during strike periods.
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Katy Eatenton
Mortgage & Protection Specialist at Eatenton Finance
To even consider striking when their services levels are already far below what any private sector business would deem to be an acceptable level is ridiculous. I wasn’t aware they were still working from home, but this probably explains why they are so far behind already. We have a stamp duty deadline looming and any strike action will simply make matters worse.
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Simon Bridgland
Broker at Charwin Private Clients
The delays at the Land Registry are already monumental, so any strike action will simply magnify them to biblical proportions. Staff being called into the office to catch up on work should be seen as a priority and part of the job for employees, not an opportunity for industrial action by yet another government department to hold their employers and the nation to ransom.
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Ken James
Director at Contractor Mortgage Services
Striking for being asked to attend the office? These are the times in which we live. Given the delays in place for getting transactions on the register are already at high levels, I am suprised that they have not been ordered back into the office to work seven days a week. We do not know what the pressures are that are creating the big delays but working remotely does not seem to be bringing those delay times down. It's maybe time for a radical change and getting everyone back to the office.
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Kate Allen
Owner at Finest Stays
It’s hard to see much Christmas spirit in a Land Registry strike over a three-day office requirement. With conveyancing already under pressure, this is a terrible gift for buyers and sellers. Instead of wrapping up sales, the property market could face delays that feel more like a lump of coal than festive cheer.
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Emma Jones
Managing Director at Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk
There are significant delays at the Land Registry at present, which the property market cannot already afford, particularly with the looming stamp duty deadline. Maybe this is why they want to bring their workforce back to the office? Either way, the Land Registry need to urgently automate their outdated processes, which would be a far better use of time and money.
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Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
Working from home clearly hasn't helped with productivity given the massive backlogs at the Land Registry. Some registrations are taking over 12 months now. The employer, at least currently, has the right to set the place of work and decide their own remote working policy, so I don't think there will be much support or sympathy for the Land Registry staff should they choose to strike. Any strike action will be detrimental to the property market, further exasperating the existing issues and delays.
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Craig Fish
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
To hear that the Land Registry are still working from home is shocking and explains why there is such a backlog in registrations. Strike action will be disastrous and have serious implications. Being asked to work and catch up on backlogs should be the norm, not an excuse to strike. Get them back in the office five days a week and make overtime compulsory to bring backlogs down.