Latest building control approval application data

Building Safety Regulator makes headway on decisions, legacy applications to be revisited

Almost 700 decisions were made on applications for building control approval by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) in the 12 weeks to 23 January 2026, new data has shown⁽¹⁾.

In its latest progress report as a newly independent organisation, the BSR also confirmed that 630 new applications were submitted in the same three-month period, bringing the total number of live applications across all project categories to 1,159.

This followed a record final quarter in 2025 with 673 decisions made by the BSR by 31 December – the highest volume since the BSR commenced operations in 2023.

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘The BSR seems to be getting into a stronger rhythm going by the volume of decisions made recently. However, the main thorn in its side is its backlog of legacy new build applications.

‘The decision to reassess the viability of the remaining 29 legacy applications seems the best option under the circumstances. The BSR is struggling for resource and with a growing caseload, avoiding capacity bottlenecks is crucial for maintaining decision-making momentum and reducing delay-related cost pressures on the wider industry.’

Decisions on applications, regardless the outcome, took the BSR a median time of 16 weeks in the three months to 23 January.

Decisions on approved applications specifically took a median time of 30 weeks while rejected applications took 26. Withdrawn applications were resolved in a median time of 42 weeks.

This data relates to applications submitted for building control approval – a statutory requirement for work on higher-risk buildings (HRBs) to pass the regulatory stop/go point known as gateway 2.

Applications for building control approval are used by the BSR to assess compliance with building regulations, project management due diligence and the competency of project teams⁽²⁾.

Data by application type

As of 23 January, there were 170 live applications for new build projects. In the 12 weeks leading to this date, the BSR determined 97 new build applications and received 99 new submissions.

The majority of new build applications continue to be assessed by the BSR’s new Innovation Unit (IU) with 111 applications under its management as of 23 January.

Decision-making in the IU appears to be faster than in other areas.

In the 12 weeks to 23 January, the IU took a median time of 13 weeks to approve applications, 14 weeks for rejections and 12 weeks to resolve withdrawn applications.

^{Source: Building Safety Regulator – Building control approval application data November 2025 to January 2026.}

^{Data shown in the chart spans from 3 November 2025 to 23 January 2026.}

The BSR estimates the rate of new applications under the IU’s responsibility will continue to rise, stabilising somewhere between 120 and 180 applications once a ‘steady state’ is reached.

Dr Crosthwaite added: ‘Establishing the Innovation Unit has proven a smart move. The faster pace of decision-making should help to streamline BSR capacity overall in the long-term alongside plans to batch applications and speed up assessments further.

‘The latest data isn’t without concern though. Over half of applications handled by the Unit in the last three months have been ruled invalid because essential information was not included. It suggests more collaboration is needed between regulator and industry to make compliance more manageable.’

Elsewhere, 286 live remediation applications were reported as of 23 January.

Issues with the quality of these applications was highlighted by the BSR as an ongoing concern.

It is working on a BSR Remediation Improvement Plan to address this and has been piloting a new batching process since September 2025 to resolve new build and remediation application backlogs more quickly.

As of January 2026, the BSR is separate to the Health and Safety Executive.

‘Establishing the BSR as an independent organisation is certainly an important step toward unifying and simplifying how construction is regulated. It shows the industry is being listened to in the same way the BSR’s process adaptations did last year,’ said Dr Crosthwaite.

‘That said, the BSR cannot afford to take its foot off the gas. Its new caseload is growing and construction’s residential market particularly would benefit from a slicker regulatory system sooner rather than later.

‘Both private and public sector housing output has slowed and fewer approval holdups would go a long way to speed up project starts and the economic value they can deliver.’

To keep up to date with the latest industry news and insights from BCIS, register for our newsletter here.

^{(1) GOV.UK – Building Safety Regulator building control approval application data November 2025 to January 2026 – here}

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