IN Brief:
- BSR made 349 Gateway 2 decisions in 12 weeks, approving 287 across all higher-risk building categories.
- New-build and conversion approvals reached 91%, with a 22-week median decision time and 7,587 units approved.
- The regulator still has 1,547 live Gateway 2 applications and 181 major change requests in progress.
The Building Safety Regulator approved 82% of the higher-risk building applications it determined during the 12 weeks to 1 August 2026, as new-build decisions accelerated and the remediation approval rate remained above the regulator’s year-end target.
BSR made 349 Gateway 2 decisions across all higher-risk building categories and approved 287. The approval rate excludes invalidated and withdrawn applications from calculation. Gateway 2 approval is required before relevant building work can begin, so determination times directly affect mobilisation, finance, procurement, and the sequencing of specialist trades.
New higher-risk buildings and conversions recorded the largest improvement. Forty-five decisions were made during the period, with 41 approvals covering 7,587 residential units. The approval rate reached 91%, while the median approval time was 22 weeks.
A year earlier, the equivalent approval rate stood at 39% and the median approval time was 43 weeks. The latest position follows the first year of BSR’s Innovation Unit, which brings multidisciplinary assessment teams together internally rather than assembling separate resources for each application.
Faster decisions, substantial caseload
London accounted for 27 of the 45 new-build decisions, with 25 approvals covering 3,841 homes. The capital’s approval rate reached 93%, and the median determination time for non-complex approvals was 23 weeks.
The regulator was still managing 131 live new-build and conversion applications representing 30,421 units. Around 65% of those applications were in London, accounting for approximately 58% of the residential units under assessment.
External remediation applications recorded an 85% approval rate nationally, compared with 47% a year earlier. BSR made 110 decisions and approved 93 projects representing 7,433 homes. The median approval time fell from 43 weeks to 34 weeks, while applications submitted during 2026 recorded a 21-week median.
The wider figure remains affected by older cases. Thirteen external-remediation applications submitted in 2024 were still unresolved, down from 42 at the beginning of 2026, and clearing those cases continues to raise the rolling median.
Internal refurbishment work accounted for 166 decisions and an approval rate of 77%. The median approval time was 32 weeks across the full caseload, but applications submitted during 2026 recorded a 16-week median, again showing the effect of older submissions on the headline measure.
NHS applications are now reported separately. BSR made 19 decisions, approving 16, which produced an 84% approval rate and a 24-week median. Applications submitted in 2026 had a median determination time of 13 weeks, and some recent cases were completed within the statutory eight-week period.
Charlie Pugsley, acting chief executive officer of the Building Safety Regulator, said: “We are seeing positive momentum in building control approvals across all categories, including critical work to upgrade NHS hospitals and facilities.”
The improved figures have required a larger regulatory workforce. BSR reported 176 internal staff and 506 external specialists involved in building control, including 221 registered building inspectors, 111 fire-service professionals, and 135 structural engineers.
Sixty-five externally sourced specialists were integrated directly into the Innovation Unit and external-remediation teams: 36 registered building inspectors, seven fire-service professionals, and 22 structural engineers. The integrated model is intended to reduce setup delays and improve consistency across assessments.
The total Gateway 2 workload remained heavy, with 1,547 applications in progress across new build, remediation, internal work, NHS projects, and transitional cases. Sixty-nine transitional cases had returned to BSR after the building control body originally responsible ceased trading, often without the evidence now expected at Gateway 2.
Design changes during construction are adding a second stream of regulatory work. BSR was handling 181 live major-change requests and had closed 112. New-build requests had a median closure time of seven weeks, one week beyond the statutory target.
Gateway 3 is beginning to create a further workload, although no new-build project that passed through Gateway 2 had yet reached that stage. BSR had received 319 Gateway 3 applications, mainly for internal refurbishment, and determined 29 during the latest 12 weeks. The approval rate was 72%, with a 16-week median.
The latest data records a marked improvement in new-build and remediation decisions, but it also shows the scale of work still moving through the system. Approval rates have risen; the programme risk has not disappeared, because application quality, design coordination, change control, and evidence remain embedded in the construction timetable.
