Mounting delays

Freeths’ Emma Medina-Wallace, Emily Leonard and Eleanor Folger consider whether BSR reforms are the solution to the housebuilding hold-ups.

Introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is responsible for raising safety standards for all buildings, regulating the design and construction of higher-risk buildings (HRBs) and helping professionals improve their competence in design, construction and building control.

The BSR is the building control authority for HRBs in England. At the time of writing, an HRB (for the purposes of the design and construction stage) is a building that is at least 18 metres tall or seven storeys high, with two or more residential units or is a hospital or a care home.

Although long-awaited and widely supported, given the circumstances of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the roll-out of the building safety reforms has faced heavy criticism – mainly because delays have mounted up since the HRB approval process was introduced. Most of these delays occur at Gateway 2, as it is the approval stage before construction can start.

While there may be a target time stated for assessment of new HRBs of 12 weeks (and for existing HRBs of eight weeks), it is well reported that there have been significant delays by the BSR in processing these applications. In addition, a significant number of applications have been rejected due to missing key information, suggesting that more needs to be done to ensure that the requirements are clear to applicants.

Since Gateway 2 clearance is required before construction of high-rise residential buildings can commence, this bottleneck has stalled the progress of numerous housing projects. Given the UK government’s recent pledge to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, these delays come at a critical juncture.

Alex Norris, former UK Minister for Building Safety, says: “The establishment of the BSR has been fundamental to centralising safety in the construction process, it’s time to take the next steps to build on that precedent and create a system that works for the sector while keeping residents and their safety at the heart of the process.

“That’s why we’re announcing a package of reforms to the BSR … to enhance operations, reduce delays and unlock the homes this country desperately needs.”

Help on the horizon

The package of reforms involves troubleshooting the current process, increased transparency and new Gateway 2 guidance, which all aim to streamline the BSR and accelerate housebuilding. The government’s reforms, introduced on 30 June 2025, include:

• a new fast-track process to facilitate the delivery of 1.5 million safe, high-quality homes. This will bring building inspector and engineer capacity directly into the BSR to enhance the processing and review of existing new build cases and remediation decisions
• leadership and structural changes, marking early steps towards establishing a single construction regulator. This includes the appointment of Andy Roe KFSM as a Non-Executive Chair of a new board of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to take on the functions of the BSR from the GB Health and Safety Executive in due course; and
• increased investment, including the recruitment of more than 100 new staff members.

The latter point is promising a recruitment drive for technical expertise to help clear the current backlog. These reforms follow an inquiry launched by the House of Lords’ Industry and Regulators Committee “to find out if the BSR has the skills and resources required to ensure the safety of all buildings and its residents in the process of approving applications for high-rise buildings”. The consultation (which concluded in August) encouraged stakeholders to submit evidence.

The BSR has begun publishing Gateway 2 transparency data in England on a quarterly basis. This is to show the number of applications received, decision outcomes, performance against statutory time limits and determination times. Industry stakeholders hope that this will improve accountability and allow them to better manage budget and timelines.

New guidance on Gateway 2 has also been released to help the construction industry navigate the process. During a parliamentary committee hearing in July, Mark Reynolds, Co-Chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), stated the BSR aims to reduce Gateway 2 approval times to five weeks.

Further reading

• CLC’s Gateway 2 guidance: b.link/CLC-Gateway2
• Government reforms to the BSR: b.link/GOV_BSRreforms
• The first Gateway 2 transparency data, published in July 2025: b.link/BSRdata
• Targets for the assessment of new HRBs: b.link/BSR_BC
• Application rejections at 75%: b.link/IFSJ_approvals
• For a general update on the government’s progress on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 recommendations, see b.link/GOV_Grenfellprogress

Time and tide

These are positive moves for many involved in the construction industry who have voiced concerns about the BSR’s role and effectiveness. Developers and funders in particular will want to see tangible improvements – and promptly. This will also be welcome news to housing developers and social housing providers with projects that are being delayed at Gateway 2. Anything that can be done to make the process faster and clearer, while maintaining safety standards, is a step in the right direction.

The release of the first comprehensive set of data is a positive stride towards understanding why applications are being rejected, and the creation of some new focused units is promising, but their implementation is pending. Reynolds has said that the new fast-track process remains a long way off. Given the current circumstances, time is of the essence.

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