Latest building control approval application data

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) made 340 decisions on applications concerning higher-risk buildings (HRBs) for building control approval in the 12 weeks to 31 August 2026, according to new data⁽¹⁾.

This was down from the 349 decisions recorded in the previous 12-week reporting period, which ended on 1 August 2026. As of 31 August, there were 1,654 live building control applications in process, an increase of more than 100 in one month.

These figures relate to gateway 2 applications, the mandatory stop/go point that higher-risk building (HRB) projects must pass before construction can begin. At this stage, the BSR assesses compliance with the Building Regulations, the adequacy of project management arrangements and the competence of project teams⁽²⁾.

Approval rates across all gateway 2 application categories improved over the latest reporting period, rising from 82% to 84% with 287 applications approved. Projects in London continued to dominate gateway 2 activity, accounting for 65% of all in-progress new build applications.

The BSR has also started to process gateway 3 applications. This is the final mandatory stage of the building control process, requiring applicants to demonstrate that completed work complies with the Building Regulations and that the building is safe to occupy before it can be brought into use.

In the latest reporting period, the BSR determined 16 gateway 3 applications. These were completed in a median time of 20 weeks, the quickest in seven weeks, with an overall approval rate of 88%.

The regulator’s latest bulletin shows there are no active gateway 3 applications for new build projects that have passed through gateway 2. Of the 346 gateway 3 applications received to date, 260 relate to internal refurbishments. Most of the remainder comprise transitional cases (45) and NHS internal refurbishments (23).

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘Higher approval rates and shorter decision making times are encouraging signs and appear consistent with the BSR’s efforts to increase its internal capacity and engage more closely with applicants throughout the process.

‘We are now beginning to see the benefits of those measures filtering through on the ground. Insight from BCIS industry panels suggests that, although BSR processing times continue to present challenges for projects, the scale of their impact has softened considerably compared with earlier in the year.

‘That improvement is particularly significant given that the overall volume of gateway 2 applications being processed remains high. August saw a notable influx of new cases, which the BSR has attributed to applicants seeking to submit ahead of the introduction of the Building Safety Levy in October.’

Gateway 2 data by application type

The latest BSR bulletin groups gateway 2 applications into three categories: new higher-risk buildings (HRBs) and conversions, external remediation, and HRB internal works and NHS applications.

In the 12 weeks to 31 August, the BSR made 50 decisions on applications for new HRBs and conversions. Of these, 46 were approved and four were rejected. Approved new build applications took a median of 22 weeks to determine, while rejected applications were determined in a median of eight weeks.

The regulator also made 118 decisions on external remediation applications during the period, taking a median time of 33 weeks for approvals.

In the same time frame, 457 new applications for HRB internal works and 30 NHS applications were received by the BSR. Approval rates for processed applications in these categories stand at 78% and 82% respectively.

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^{(1) GOV.UK – Building control approval application data – here}

^{(2) GOV.UK – Building control approval for higher-risk buildings – here}