More than 12,000 homes have secured Gateway 2 approval in a 12-week surge by the Building Safety Regulator, offering the clearest indication yet that the long-standing bottleneck in the approvals process is beginning to ease.
Latest data from the regulator shows that applications covering 12,299 homes were approved in the 12 weeks to 1 May, as decision-making accelerated across both new-build high-rise developments and remediation schemes.
In total, 323 Gateway 2 decisions were issued during the period, with an overall approval rate of 71%, marking a notable improvement on the early rollout phase of the regime, when delays drew widespread criticism from across the construction sector as projects stalled awaiting sign-off.
Performance gains were also evident within the regulator’s Innovation Unit, which deals with the most technically complex submissions. The unit approved 24 out of 33 applications during the latest reporting window, representing a 73% success rate.
London remained the focal point of Gateway 2 activity, accounting for 62% of all decisions. Within the capital, the Innovation Unit achieved a 100% approval rate over the same 12-week period.
Despite the progress, a small number of highly complex legacy cases continue to pose challenges. Eight schemes remain classified as “complex new build projects”, including six in London and two in the South West.
The regulator said these projects involve significant technical hurdles and are now being handled separately by dedicated account managers working closely with applicants to help unlock approvals.
There are also signs of movement on the backlog of remediation cases following the launch of the External Remediation Improvement Plan last month. Legacy applications dating back to 2024 have been reduced from 42 at the start of the year to 20, with a further 12 expected to be determined by mid-May.
A revised “batching” approach, which groups applications for review by specialist external assessors, is helping to streamline the process.
Assessment timelines have also improved. Median turnaround times for reviews are now around four weeks, while new-build Gateway 2 applications are taking a median of nine weeks from submission to final decision.
Acting chief executive Charlie Pugsley said: “We are continuing to see positive improvements in the number of approvals for both new build and existing building remediation cases, as well as significantly faster decision times.
“This includes positive results from our Innovation Unit from working closely with applicants to resolve complex technical challenges and then seeing a growing number of decisions and rising approval rates.”
