Latest building control approval application data

Building Safety Regulator reports notable rise in gateway 2 approval rates

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) made 284 decisions on applications for building control approval in the 12 weeks to 29 March 2026, new data has shown⁽¹⁾.

This was down on the 366 decisions recorded in the previous reporting period, which covered the 12 weeks to 25 February 2026.

The latest data also confirmed that 769 new applications were submitted for building control approval in the same period, bringing the total number of live applications across all project categories to 1,327 as of 29 March.

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘Looking across the last three reporting periods, the combination of BSR reforms and collaboration with industry appears to be making a difference. Approval rates have increased significantly, rising from 32% in the 12 weeks to January to 67% in the latest reporting period.

‘However, the pace of decision making remains fairly slow, although it’s an improvement on last year. Maintaining progress will be important, particularly as developers face the prospect of renewed cost pressures linked to geopolitical uncertainty. While it can’t address challenges like sluggish demand conditions, a smoother and more predictable regulatory process is still important for steady construction activity.’

The median time taken to reach decisions on approved applications was 34 weeks in the 12 weeks to 29 March, up from 30 weeks in the previous reporting period. However, the approval rate increased from 49% to 67%.

Decisions on rejected applications took a median of 25 weeks, while complex cases – where account managers work more closely with applicants to achieve a successful outcome – took 29 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 29 March 2026, the BSR was processing 146 live applications for new build projects.

The majority (117) were being handled by the BSR’s Innovation Unit (IU). A further 15 legacy cases remain under review, 13 of which are being managed separately and are now classed as complex cases.

In the 12 weeks to 29 March, the IU received 72 new applications, made 31 decisions and approved 61% of cases received. It took a median time of 22 weeks to approve applications and 17 weeks for rejections.

^{Source: BSR – Building control approval application data, January to March 2026}

By comparison, the BSR received 97 remediation applications and made 92 decisions over the same period, with 299 live remediation applications recorded as of 29 March.

The median time to approve remediation applications increased to 36 weeks, up from 31 weeks in the previous reporting period. Rejected remediation applications took a median time of 27 weeks.

Reporting on data for remediation applications, the BSR said: ‘We announced the BSR Remediation Improvement Plan in the past month and have already made progress with fewer than 20 legacy 2024 applications now remaining and approval rates already approaching the >65% target for 2026 due to operational improvements and intensive work to improve applications.

‘We also continue to work closely with the sector to help applicants improve the quality of applications and data shows that applications submitted in Q4 2025 are progressing through the system much more rapidly than earlier applications.’

London-based projects requiring building control approval account for a larger share of all gateway 2 applications than the rest of England combined.

Across all regions, remediation applications outnumber those for other types of work.

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

^{(1) Building Safety Regulator – Building control approval application data January to March 2026 – here}

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