The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has published its latest Building Control Gateway 2 performance data, with the figures showing continued improvements in approval rates and determination times across several higher-risk building (HRB) categories. Overall, Gateway 2 applications achieved an approval rate of 82%, while approvals for existing building remediation reached 85% nationally and 92% in London.
Over the latest 12-week period, the BSR made 349 Building Control decisions across all HRB categories, approving 287 applications, an overall national approval rate of 82%.
For new higher-risk buildings and conversions, the approval rate, excluding invalidations and withdrawals, reached 91%, with a median approval time of 22 weeks. In London, the approval rate was 93%, with a median determination time of 23 weeks.
The BSR made 45 decisions on new-build projects during the period. Approved projects represent 7,587 residential units. Of those decisions, 27 related to projects in London, with 25 approved, representing 3,841 residential units.
Nationally, the BSR is currently managing 131 live new-build and conversion applications representing 30,421 units.
The BSR’s Innovation Unit has now completed its first year of operation. Established to streamline the assessment of new-build applications, the unit brought multidisciplinary teams in-house and introduced measures including dedicated account managers, an internal consistency panel and tools to track outstanding issues.
Over its first year, the unit determined 102 applications, of which 76, or 75%, were approvals or approvals with requirements.
For non-complex cases, the unit is currently reporting an approval rate of 91% and a median determination time of 22 weeks. Before its establishment, the new-build approval rate stood at 39%, with a median approval time of 43 weeks.
The approach is now being extended to other areas of the BSR’s work, including remediation.
External remediation performance has also improved, with approval rates increasing from 47% to 85% and median approval times reducing from 43 weeks to 34 weeks.
Internal refurbishment works across Categories A and B currently have an approval rate of 77%, with a median determination time of 32 weeks. For applications submitted in 2026, however, the median determination time is 16 weeks.
Internal HRB works accounted for approximately 49% of all Gateway 2 decisions during the latest 12-week period. The BSR is currently managing 981 active internal works cases.
Early Gateway 3 data shows that 319 applications have been received, including 235 internal refurbishment projects, 47 transitional cases and 23 NHS internal refurbishments.
Of the 29 Gateway 3 applications determined during the latest 12-week period, 72% were approved. The median determination time was 16 weeks, with the quickest application determined in eight weeks.
No new-build projects that have progressed through Gateway 2 have yet reached Gateway 3. The BSR expects determination times to reduce as new processes are introduced and additional resources are put in place.
The BSR is managing 69 transitional Building Control cases at Gateway 2. These include legacy projects transferred to the regulator after the Building Control body previously overseeing them ceased trading.
A further 47 transitional cases have been received at Gateway 3.
The regulator is also processing 181 live major change requests, with 112 requests closed. For new-build projects, the median closure time is currently seven weeks, which is one week above the statutory target.
To support the volume of applications and decisions, the BSR has expanded its internal and external resources.
Its current resourcing includes 176 internal staff: 100 regulatory leads, 15 principal regulatory leads, 56 case officers and five case officer managers.
The BSR is also supported by 506 external specialists, comprising 221 registered building inspectors, 111 Fire and Rescue Service professionals, 135 structural engineers and 39 other specialists.
Of these, 36 registered building inspectors, eight Fire and Rescue Service professionals and 20 structural engineers have been integrated directly into the Innovation Unit and external remediation team to help accelerate application processing.
The latest figures indicate that changes introduced by the BSR are beginning to improve both approval rates and determination times. For the fire safety sector, continued progress will be important as the regulator manages a growing caseload and more projects move through Gateway 2 and into Gateway 3.