The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has released its latest building control Gateway 2 update.
The update demonstrates a continuing positive momentum against a backdrop of increasing decisions and applications for new high-rise residential building units, further reductions in complex legacy cases and a renewed focus on remediation projects.
In response to stakeholder feedback, we have changed how we represent application progress by removing invalid applications. This is where applications lacking basic critical safety information are quickly invalidated, normally within around one week.
Percentages of withdrawn, rejections and approvals are now shown as a proportion of the total number of applications that passed validation.
Closed applications continue to exceed previous rates with 639, including 273 invalidations over the past 12 weeks. The number of live applications of all categories is 1,212.
During that time, 108 new build applications have had decisions, with 82 new applications received. 65% of all decisions across all categories over the past 12 weeks related to London cases.
Remediation improvement plan set to roll out
86 remediation decisions have been made since December 2025, including 41 in London and 77 new cases received. 279 live cases are now being processed, representing 24,282 units.
While late 2025 and early 2026 applications are showing an improved picture – averaging around 18 weeks – a high percentage of complex, older remediation cases are taking longer to make decisions on.
To put a clearer focus on the existing high-rise buildings, a remediation improvement plan is set to be formally announced and introduced over the coming weeks.
This sets out a targeted package of measures to improve the efficiency, quality and timeliness of remediation applications. It will focus on three core areas:
- strengthening BSR resource capacity
- improving internal processes
- supporting industry to submit higher quality applications
We will be publishing specific remediation guidance in the coming weeks, alongside improved feedback and support for applicants.
Resolving historical cases
From 60 at the start of December, the number of active legacy cases is now down to 3 ‘normal’ applications. There is a small cohort of 18 applications with significant technical issues to resolve, which are being managed via a new complex case process.
This involves account managers continuing to work closely with applicants and experts to try and reach a successful outcome, acknowledging that this process may mean extended timelines, but will help deliver safe new homes.
BSR sees its responsibility, as far as is reasonable, to get these applications across the line. Approval rates continue to be high at 53%.
Innovation Unit progress
The Innovation Unit (IU), a dedicated team of registered building inspectors (RBIs), technical engineers and Regulatory Leads made 27 decisions, of which 10 were in London, during the past 12 weeks.
Eleven applications have now been approved with a median approval time of 18 weeks.
For applications post-validation, 33% are approved (up 3% from last month) and 33% rejected. The remainder are under active account management.
This sees us continuing to work to reach approvals despite them having failed to demonstrate sufficient evidence to warrant approval at 12-weeks.
Our continued focus is on increasing approval rates for safe applications and supporting those making applications to ensure more cases pass the validation stage.
Enabling the delivery of safe homes is vital and BSR is accelerating work to drive down approval times through:
- enhanced consistency conventions to address areas of technical dispute between experts
- exploring third party independent validation of key design elements
- accelerating the onboarding of specialists when needed. For example, Geo-spatial engineers or Computer Modelling specialists
The IU is currently managing 123 live new build applications, representing 26,224 units. 69 of those cases are for projects in the capital.
Batching pilot driving case resolution
While the model for bundling new build and remediation applications for accelerated assessment through specialised engineering suppliers remains under evaluation, initial data confirms processing times are significantly faster than previous methods.
In-house teams are continuing to manage most new build applications, using batching only for supplemental support.
This strategy is now a core component of our overall workflow and continues to drive the resolution of cases.
Continued IU improvements and remediation to be focus over coming months
Charlie Pugsley, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Building Safety Regulator, said: "We continue to see improvements to the numbers of decisions being made for new build applications, and the numbers of safe homes being made available for the future.
“We also continue to engage even more closely with applicants to help improve the quality of those applications and that continues to see tangible results that will make a real difference.
“However, we recognise that current determination times are falling short of our targets for remediation. Our Remediation improvement plan, which will be formally announced and rolled out operationally over the coming weeks, will represent a targeted package of focussed measures to reset the system.
“But speed can never come at the cost of safety, whether that be for new build or existing homes. Our goal continues to be to ensure that industry can construct safe buildings, and that residents can see the essential safety improvements they deserve without unnecessary delays.”
More: Building Control Approval application data – to 25 February 2026
