Land Registry staff have voted to strike after being told that they must spend more time working from the office. The move could adversely affect property transactions activity ahead of stamp duty changes in April.

The Public and Commercial Services union said its members voted for industrial action after the department informed workers that they would have to spend more time working in the office, rather than from home.

The union says 3,800 staff based in 14 offices across England and Wales are affected.

Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, said: “The government doesn’t seem to learn that applying arbitrary targets on office attendance doesn’t increase productivity and is unpopular with staff members.

“If they want a motivated, hard-working workforce, ministers should trust their own employees to have some say over their working conditions, rather than acting like Victorian bosses.

“It’s not too late for management to avoid strike action by ending this dispute.”

A strike by members of the Land Registry could cause “huge problems in the run-up to the stamp duty changes in April”, according to Helix Financial Partners managing director, Adam Stiles.

Stiles pointed out that, at the moment, some registrations at the Land Registry are taking between 12 and 24 months, leading to delays on property transactions “to the detriment of everyone involved”.

He argued strikes would exacerbate this already “arduous and frustrating” situation, particularly due to the changes to stamp duty which are expected in April.