Building Safety Regulator clears 20,000-plus residential units at Gateway 2

Highlights to 5 October 2026 (12-week rolling period)

Overall decisions

Over the last 12 weeks, the BSR made 378 Building Control decisions across all higher-risk building (HRB) categories, with an overall national approval rate of 87% (330 cases approved in total). These equate to 20,471 residential units.

New HRBs and conversions

For new HRBs and conversions, the approval rate (not including invalidations and withdrawals) has risen to 96% (55 approvals out of 57 decisions) with a median approval time of 23 weeks for 11,822 units. In London, approvals stood at 97% with a 22-week median approval time for 6,855 units.

Existing building remediation

Existing building remediation approvals stood at 87%, significantly exceeding the BSR’s annual target of 65% and equating to 8,649 units. In London, approvals stood at 96% (ie 52 approvals and 4,643 units).

National Health Service (NHS) applications

Approvals for NHS applications reached 81% nationally with 21 approvals from 26 decisions

National picture

Recent housing supply indicators from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) show significant quarterly starts in Q4 2025, as well as Q1 and Q2 of 2026, largely driven by the BSR’s operational reforms.

Increased applications received

The BSR activated contingency plans in order to deal with an expected surge of applications in advance of the introduction of the Building Safety Levy, which came into force on 1 October. These contingency plans introduce additional levels of scrutiny prior to rejection alongside a triage mechanism that will ensure applications are progressed appropriately.

New-build, conversion and complex projects

The BSR’s Innovation Unit has accelerated the assessment of applications for new high-rise residential buildings and major conversions. Over the latest 12-week period, the BSR made 57 decisions on new-build projects, approving 96% of applications (ie 55). These approved schemes represent 11,822 new residential units.

For comparison, in August 2025, the median approval time was 43 weeks and the approval rate stood at 39%.

Most new-build activity continues to take place in London, which accounted for 37 of the 57 national decisions made. The BSR approved 36 of these 37 projects in London, representing an approval rate of 97% in the capital and unlocking a total of 6,855 residential units. The median determination time in the capital was 22 weeks for non-complex cases.

While the BSR continues to drive internal improvements, the regulator is also actively engaged with the wider sector in order to improve consistency and the quality of applications.

London currently represents 60% of all in-progress new-build applications and 55% of the total residential units under active assessment (111 live applications representing 22,204 units). Nationally, the BSR is managing 186 live new-build and conversion applications representing 40,644 individual units.

In order to manage resources efficiently, the BSR tracks highly complex designs separately. Nationally, there are 30 live complex cases under active management with a median determination time of 34 weeks. London is managing 19 of these complex proposals with a median determination time of 35 weeks.

Regional Gateway 2 distribution

While London remains the primary hub for higher-risk building activity, managing 1,040 total live Gateway 2 applications, the rest of England accounts for 560 active Gateway 2 applications.

Outside of the capital, regional workloads are mainly concentrated in major urban development corridors across England including the South West (114 live Gateway 2 applications), the North West (109), the South East (84) and the East of England (63).

Recent statistics concentrating on Housing Supply: Indicators of New Supply (England): April to June 2026 from the MHCLG showed that the higher number of starts in 2025 Q4, 2026 Q1 and 2026 Q2 is, at least in part, due to the BSR reporting 7,089 total starts in 2025 Q4, 6,276 total starts in 2026 Q1 and 5,758 total starts in 2026 Q2.

Previously, the maximum number of starts the BSR had reported in a single quarter was 1,206 in 2025 Q3. For context, the MHCLG added that this followed reforms at the BSR to accelerate housebuilding that were announced back in June 2025.

Increased numbers of applications

In the period leading up to the introduction of the Building Safety Levy, the BSR experienced a notable increase in higher-risk building applications. September submissions rose to 64 in comparison to 34 in August, 17 in July and a total of 12 in June.

While application volumes can be influenced by a range of factors, the BSR anticipated the potential for increased demand ahead of the Building Safety Levy coming into force and put contingency arrangements in place to manage this. Those measures have now been deployed and build on the significant improvements made over the past 12 months to strengthen operational performance and reduce application processing times.

The BSR’s messaging in August and September highlighted to the sector that, in accordance with normal practice, the regulator would move to reject clearly sub-standard applications demonstrating significant gaps in compliance. While that remains the BSR’s position, the regulator is “acutely aware” of the impact that a rejection may have on the viability of a given project.

On that basis, the BSR has deployed additional scrutiny for this transitional period while the Building Safety Levy comes into force to ensure that any invalidation or rejection of an application is subject to second-line and third-line assurance checks before a final decision is communicated to the applicant. 

Applications that are rejected will be those where the BSR sees no realistic path to an approval within a reasonable time period.

While the BSR has bolstered resources to deal with the surge, an increase of 2-3 times the typical intake will mean that the regulator has to apply a triage and demand management process in order to avoid unduly impacting applications that are already in progress. The BSR will be in touch with applicants on an individual basis to discuss timelines for their projects.

New-build inspection regime

The BSR’s growing inspection programme has uncovered a small number of examples where building work has not conformed with agreed designs and required some remedial work. The BSR will monitor this closely and adopt a robust position where appropriate in order to help ensure that safe designs are translated into safe buildings.

Targeted operational measures under the BSR’s External Remediation Plan, introduced in April this year, have driven improvements in existing building remediation. The BSR determined 110 remediation applications over the 12-week rolling period, approving 96 projects (87% approval rate) representing 8,649 residential units.

In London, the regional remediation approval rate reached 96% (52 approved from 54 decisions), duly unlocking 4,643 units. Nationally, 2026 approval rates already exceed the BSR’s annual target of 65%.

The BSR has also reduced outstanding legacy applications in the system. The volume of remediation cases dating from 2024 has fallen from 42 at the start of the year to six in London and one outside of the capital. These older and more complex applications had an overall rolling 12-week median determination time of 32 weeks as teams worked to resolve historic design and safety issues.

In November 2025, approval rates stood at 32% with a decision time of 44 weeks. Approval rates currently stand at 87% with a median decision time of 32 weeks. However, newer applications submitted in 2026 are progressing in circa 22 weeks (with high approval rates), thereby showing significant improvements.

The BSR is currently managing 313 active remediation cases nationally, representing 26,259 residential units (and a total of 180 cases in London representing 14,298 units).

National Health Service applications

Building Control applications for NHS healthcare facilities (including hospital maintenance, expansions and structural upgrades) are tracked as a distinct regulatory category to reflect their national importance.

Over the rolling 12-week period, the BSR made 26 determinations on NHS applications, approving 21 for an 81% national approval rate and a median approval determination time of 20 weeks.

The BSR’s specialist healthcare teams work with NHS Trusts to resolve design complexities early on. For NHS applications submitted in 2026, the median determination time has fallen to 17 weeks, with some recent projects securing approval within the statutory eight-week timeline.

London accounted for a significant share of healthcare upgrades, achieving a 78% NHS approval rate with seven projects approved from nine determinations. The median determination time in the capital was 20 weeks, in turn reflecting the complexity of urban hospital sites. Nationally, the BSR is managing 32 active NHS Building Control cases (18 of them in London).

Refurbishments and early Gateway 3 indicators

Category A and B internal refurbishments accounted for 185 decisions over the last 12 weeks, representing 49% of all Gateway 2 decisions. These applications include all internal refurbishment works except for NHS projects.

The BSR achieved an 85% approval rate (158 approvals) with a median approval determination time of 31 weeks. For refurbishment applications submitted in 2026, the median determination time has dropped to 21 weeks.

New applications were received at an average rate of 38 per week over the 12 weeks, although weekly submissions in September and early October dropped back to the pre-August baseline of 33 per week.

The BSR is currently overseeing 1,109 active cases nationally for internal refurbishment works (749 in London). While no new-build projects have yet transitioned to final occupation certificate assessments, a significant volume of internal refurbishments has entered the final regulatory stage.

Of the 361 Gateway 3 applications received, 274 of them are internal refurbishments with most of the remainder being transitional cases (42) and NHS internal refurbishments (27).

Over the last 12 weeks, the BSR determined nine Gateway 3 applications, achieving a 100% approval rate with a median determination time of 20 weeks. The quickest approval was completed in 16 weeks. Active in-progress cases at Gateway 3 currently stand at 122 for internal works, 19 for NHS works and eight for external remediation (972 units).

Live major change requests

In order to manage design modifications safely during construction, the BSR is processing 208 live major change requests made up of new HRBs and conversions (85), external remediation (25), HRB internal works (71), NHS applications (24) and transitional cases (3). These reviews ensure that post-approval modifications undergo thorough safety assessments. Over the last 12 weeks, the BSR has closed 142 major change requests.

For new-build developments, the median time to close a major change request is seven weeks (ie one week over the statutory target of six weeks).

In order to support the sheer volume of building safety-centred decisions, the BSR has expanded its workforce. The current regulatory resource profile comprises 181 internal BSR core staff members (103 regulatory leads, 18 principal regulatory leads, 56 case officers, three case officer managers and one administrative officer) and 491 external technical specialists (239 registered building inspectors, 102 Fire and Rescue Service professionals, 116 structural engineers and 34 specialists).

Of the 491 individuals sourced or seconded from external organisations, 62 are integrated into the BSR’s Innovation Unit or external remediation teams (34 registered building inspectors, six Fire and Rescue Service professionals and 22 structural engineers) in a bid to accelerate decision times.

Strong regulatory momentum

Charlie Pugsley, acting CEO of the Building Safety Regulator, explained: “Our latest performance figures demonstrate strong regulatory momentum, with overall Gateway 2 approvals reaching 87% and clearing more than 20,000 residential units alongside significant numbers of vital NHS healthcare facility improvements.”

Pugsley continued: “Approval rates for safe designs are high, while determination times continue to reduce significantly across both new-builds and remediation projects, in turn reflecting the positive impact of our streamlined operational pathways. However, we’re not complacent and continue to engage with the sector to improve performance and ensure safe outcomes.”

Further, Pugsley noted: “To manage application volumes, including additional applications received ahead of the introduction of the Building Safety Levy, we continue to expand our internal capacity and integrated specialist technical workforce. This increased resourcing is enabling us to process applications more efficiently, while always being mindful of maintaining necessarily rigorous and essential safety assessments.”

Pugsley concluded: “As buildings progress through the in-build phase to Gateway 3, we will continue to enhance and refine systems and processes to ensure that safe designs are translated into safe buildings. As always, our core focus remains the same. The safety of residents and our communities remains at the very heart of everything that we do.”

*Building Control Approval Application Cata - Making Buildings Safer

**Transparency Data – Building Safety Regulator Building Control Approval Application Data: July 2026-September 2026