Building control approval application data
BSR sees record Gateway 2 determinations to November 2025 from recent operational changes
The Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) latest Gateway 2 (GW2) update demonstrates the sustained positive impact of its pilot processes for high-rise residential building control applications.
Highlights to 24 November 2025
- Gateway 2 determinations continue to rise, with a record 272 decisions across all application types to 24 November – totalling 578 since August 2025.
- The determinations demonstrate an approval rate of 73% with many of these utilising the recently enhanced ‘approval with requirements’ route.
- 76% of all decisions (206) across all Gateway 2 categories related to London cases – with 409 made in the capital since 31 August. 85% of these in London utilised the recently enhanced ‘approval with requirements’ route.
- The recently established Innovation Unit (IU) is now managing 73 new build applications representing 17,076 units.
- 40 of the remaining 103 historic new build applications submitted under the previous model were resolved by 24 November – with 20 of these decisions relating to London cases.
- A minimum of 9 further previous model applications have also been assessed as ready for the recently enhanced ‘approval with requirements’ route.
- The remaining 54 applications are a key focus for BSR through to the end of the year with face-to-face meetings with regulatory partners planned to finalise the majority of the remaining historic cases in December.
- Up to 24 November, new build applications representing 16,313 residential units have been received and approvals representing 11,138 units issued. There are currently 36,023 units within 167 live cases.
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has released its latest building control Gateway 2 update, demonstrating a continued positive momentum and consistency across application processes for new high-rise residential buildings.
A record 272 decisions across all application types were made to 24 November and 578 since 31 August 2025.
76% of all decisions (206) across all Gateway 2 categories during October related to London cases, making it 409 decisions since August in the capital.
Scaling capacity and resolving historical cases
A further 40 historic applications submitted under the previous model were closed between 31 August and 24 November, with 20 of these recent decisions relating to London cases.
A minimum of 9 further applications have now also been assessed as ready for the recently enhanced ‘approval with requirements’ route, subject to final checks and agreement from the applicants.
The majority of the remaining 54 previous model applications are projected to follow by the new year.
BSR’s Operational Team’s direct engagement with applicants and regulatory partners, along with its ongoing plan to address individual ‘blockers’ continues to see cases closed at a significant rate.
The regulator is also continuing to implement the new batching process launched in September. This new pilot process scales capacity by bundling applications to specialised engineering services suppliers for accelerated assessment.
To date mixed-category bundles, covering 217 new build and remediation cases, have been successfully dispatched, with a continued weekly dispatch based on supplier capacity.
BSR is also now developing a focused plan to extend the lessons recently learned to its remediation cases in the new year.
Innovation Unit (IU) progress
The recently established Innovation Unit (IU), a dedicated team of registered building inspectors (RBIs) and technical engineers, is currently managing 73 live new build applications.
The unit is demonstrating progress in processing times with rapid validation and rejection of incomplete applications which enables applicants to quickly address issues and resubmit.
The early cohort of applications are now being expedited to resolve outstanding technical issues with first approvals expected during December.
A strong foundation and continued progress
Charlie Pugsley, Chief Executive Officer of the Building Safety Regulator, said:
The immediate, positive results we saw from our pilot operational changes have established a strong foundation for continued success.
“We are on track to continue to clear the majority historic cases by the end of December by engaging with applicants and our regulatory partners, seeing the benefits of our new batching system, and building upon the initial hard work of the Innovation Unit.
“Across BSR there is a confidence that projected milestones remain achievable, but rightly we remain cautiously optimistic.
“We are fully committed to supporting the pace of essential construction while upholding the essential safety standards that keep people safe in new and also existing homes.”
Other useful information
Operational arrangements over the Christmas and New Year period
BSR will pause the processing of new building control applications received via the GOV.UK online portal between 19 December and 5 January 2026.
Work on all applications already in the system before 19 December will continue to be progressed during this period.
This operational pause aligns with general industry trends during this period and is necessary due to the reduced availability of applicants who need to submit additional information, as well as BSR’s third-party regulatory partners.
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