Building Safety Regulator Statistics UK: Gateway 2 Approvals, Delays & HRB Data (2026)

In the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026 the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) made 358 Gateway 2 building-control decisions across all categories at a 75% approval rate — up from 67% just one quarter earlier — while 1,445 live cases and 38,775 residential units still sat in the system awaiting a decision. This page pulls the UK’s Building Safety Regulator statistics into one maintained reference: approval rates, median processing times against the statutory targets, the live-case backlog, higher-risk building (HRB) registrations and Building Assessment Certificate outcomes.

The numbers come from the primary source — the BSR’s building control approval application data, published on GOV.UK on a rolling basis, where each release is a “12 weeks to <date>” snapshot — plus the BSR’s Strategic Plan for the targets, and the Making Buildings Safer campaign for registration and certificate figures. This series moves fast, so every figure below is dated to its window and the page is written as a rolling trend line rather than a one-off snapshot. It covers regulator activity only; fires in high-rise buildings and the physical progress of cladding remediation are tracked separately on our high-rise fire statistics page.

Key facts and figures

• 75% Gateway 2 approval rate across all categories in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026, from 358 decisions — up from 67% a quarter earlier.
• 1,445 live Gateway 2 cases in progress across all categories at 30 May 2026, including 131 Innovation Unit and 359 remediation cases.
• 38,775 residential units sat in live, in-progress Gateway 2 cases across all categories at 30 May 2026.
• 22 weeks median approval time for the BSR’s new-build Innovation Unit, which hit a 90% approval rate in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026.
• 39 weeks median approval time for remediation Gateway 2 applications, approved at 79% in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026.
• ~12,500 higher-risk buildings in England fall under the BSR regime, all required to register by 1 October 2023.
• 1,679 Building Assessment Certificate applications validated, with 567 outcomes completed of which 73% were refusals (early BSR data).
• 18 / 12 weeks are the BSR’s March 2027 targets for deciding non-complex new-build and non-complex remediation Gateway 2 applications.

All figures are the latest available as of July 2026, and this page is updated whenever GOV.UK posts a new BSR building control approval application data release — currently roughly monthly, each covering a 12-week window — with HRB-registration and certificate figures refreshed on each BSR strategic-plan and campaign update.

What is the Building Safety Regulator?

The Building Safety Regulator is the body set up under the Building Safety Act 2022 to oversee the safety of higher-risk buildings in England and to act as the building-control authority for them. It sits within the Health and Safety Executive and became the sole building-control body for higher-risk buildings on 1 October 2023, the same date by which occupied HRBs had to be registered.

A “higher-risk building” for the occupation regime is a building at least 18 metres tall, or with at least seven storeys, containing two or more residential units. The BSR estimates around 12,500 such buildings in England. For new work and major refurbishment, the Act introduced a three-stage “gateway” approval process, and it is the Gateway 2 stage — the pre-construction building-control approval — that generates most of the statistics on this page. This page covers the regulator’s own activity; for enforcement of the Fire Safety Order in existing workplaces and for fire-safety prosecutions, see our sister site’s fire safety enforcement statistics guide.

What is the Gateway 2 approval rate in 2026?

75% of Gateway 2 decisions across all categories were approvals in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026, from 358 decisions in that window, according to the BSR’s building control approval application data. That is a marked jump from 67% in the 12 weeks to 30 March 2026 — a swing of eight percentage points in a single quarter, which is exactly why a dated, rolling series matters more than any single headline number.

The rate varies sharply by application type. In the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026 the BSR’s new-build Innovation Unit — a dedicated team handling major new residential development — reached a 90% approval rate, while remediation applications (work to fix existing buildings) were approved at 79%. Both are well above the all-category average, reflecting how much the earlier, lower rates were dragged down by first-time applications that did not yet meet the new standard.

For context, the earliest published figures were lower still. As at 24 November 2025 the Gateway 2 approval rate stood at 73%, and one quarter’s new-build applications ran at just 61% (12 weeks to 30 March 2026) before the Innovation Unit’s figures recovered. The direction of travel is upward as applicants and the regulator both learn the new process.

How long does a Gateway 2 application take to be decided?

The median approval time depends on the category, and the fastest is the new-build Innovation Unit at a 22-week median in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026. Remediation applications took a 39-week median in the same window, and across all categories the median approval time was 34 weeks in the preceding quarter (12 weeks to 30 March 2026).

Those medians are the crux of the criticism the BSR has faced. The Building Safety Act envisaged a statutory decision period measured in weeks, and the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee’s 2025–26 report highlighted a reported median approaching 43 weeks against a 12-week target as evidence of a backlog that was stalling housing delivery. The more recent 22- to 39-week medians show the position improving, but remediation work in particular still runs well beyond the target the regulator is aiming for by 2027.

The lesson from the table is that a single “Gateway 2 processing time” figure is misleading. The number a developer should quote depends on whether the work is a new build, a remediation scheme or a conversion, and on which 12-week window they are citing.

How big is the Gateway 2 backlog?

1,445 Gateway 2 cases were live and in progress across all categories at 30 May 2026, holding 38,775 residential units waiting on a building-control decision. Within that live caseload were 131 Innovation Unit cases and 359 remediation cases, with the remainder covering other new-build, conversion and mixed applications.

The backlog has grown as the programme has scaled. As at 24 November 2025 there were 167 live Gateway 2 cases containing 36,023 residential units; by 30 March 2026 the new-build strand alone had a live caseload of 146 cases. The rising unit count reflects both the volume of housing tied up in the process and the concentration of large residential schemes: to 24 November 2025, 76% of Gateway 2 decisions (206 of 272 determinations) related to London, mirroring the capital’s share of high-rise development.

There is a sign the queue is starting to move. In the 12 weeks to 1 May 2026, applications covering 12,299 homes secured Gateway 2 approval — a substantial clearance in a single window, and the kind of throughput the regulator needs to sustain to bring median waiting times down toward its targets.

What is the Building Safety Regulator’s target for deciding Gateway 2 applications?

By March 2027 the BSR is targeting a decision on non-complex new-build Gateway 2 applications in 18 weeks or less, and on non-complex remediation applications in 12 weeks or less, both at a 65% approval rate, according to its Strategic Plan 2026 to 2027. Set against the recent medians — 22 weeks for new-build and 39 weeks for remediation — those targets are ambitious, especially on the remediation side where the current median is more than three times the goal.

The plan also commits the regulator to clearing the historic backlog and to a faster, more predictable service for applicants, reflecting the political pressure to stop building-safety approval becoming a brake on housing supply. Whether the 2027 targets are met will be visible in exactly the rolling releases this page tracks: the approval rate is already comfortably above the 65% target, so the binding constraint is speed rather than the pass rate.

How many higher-risk buildings are registered with the BSR?

Around 12,500 higher-risk buildings in England fall under the Building Safety Regulator’s occupation regime — buildings at least 18 metres tall, or with seven or more storeys, containing two or more residential units. Registration of occupied HRBs was mandatory by 1 October 2023, and it is an offence for a principal accountable person to allow residents to occupy an unregistered building.

Registration is only the entry point. Each registered HRB must, in turn, obtain a Building Assessment Certificate when directed to apply, which is the BSR’s confirmation that the building is being managed safely. In 2024/25 the regulator directed more than 1,400 principal accountable persons to apply for a certificate, and the first Building Assessment Certificate was issued in January 2025.

What is happening with Building Assessment Certificates?

Early BSR data points to a demanding assessment and a growing queue: 1,679 Building Assessment Certificate applications had been validated, with 567 outcomes completed, of which 73% were refusals, and more than 1,100 HRBs remained awaiting a final determination (early BSR data via Catalyst Group, 2025/26). A refusal does not mean a building is unsafe to occupy — it means the safety-case evidence submitted did not yet meet the standard and has to be resubmitted — but the high refusal rate signals how new and stringent the process is.

Read alongside the Gateway 2 figures, the certificate data tells a consistent story: a regulator applying a demanding standard to a new regime, generating a backlog of resubmissions and determinations that it is working through. Both the Gateway data and the certificate data are early in their life, so the figures should be expected to move release by release — which is why this page is dated and maintained rather than fixed.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Gateway 2 approval rate in 2026?

Across all categories the Building Safety Regulator approved 75% of Gateway 2 decisions in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026, from 358 decisions — up from 67% in the 12 weeks to 30 March 2026. The new-build Innovation Unit ran at 90% and remediation applications at 79% in the latest window.

How long does a Gateway 2 application take to be decided?

The median approval time was 22 weeks for the new-build Innovation Unit and 39 weeks for remediation applications in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026, with an all-category median of 34 weeks in the preceding quarter. The Building Safety Act envisaged decisions in a matter of weeks, and a reported median approaching 43 weeks was criticised by a House of Lords committee in 2025–26.

How many higher-risk buildings are registered with the Building Safety Regulator?

Around 12,500 higher-risk buildings in England fall under the BSR regime — buildings at least 18 metres tall or with seven or more storeys and two or more residential units. Registration of occupied HRBs was mandatory by 1 October 2023 and the register is held by the regulator.

What is the Building Safety Regulator’s target for deciding Gateway 2 applications?

By March 2027 the BSR targets deciding non-complex new-build Gateway 2 applications in 18 weeks or less and non-complex remediation applications in 12 weeks or less, both at a 65% approval rate (BSR Strategic Plan 2026 to 2027). The approval rate is already above target; the challenge is meeting the processing-time goals.

What is a Building Assessment Certificate?

It is the BSR’s confirmation that an occupied higher-risk building is being managed safely, applied for when the principal accountable person is directed to do so. Early data showed 1,679 applications validated and 567 outcomes completed, 73% of them refusals, with more than 1,100 buildings still awaiting a determination (early BSR data, 2025/26).

Where do Building Safety Regulator statistics come from?

The Gateway 2 figures come from the BSR’s building control approval application data on GOV.UK, published as rolling 12-week snapshots. Targets come from the BSR Strategic Plan, registration and certificate figures from the Making Buildings Safer campaign and early BSR analyses, and the scale of the backlog from parliamentary scrutiny of the regulator.

If you help manage a higher-risk or any multi-occupied building, the regulator’s scrutiny is only as effective as the competent people on the ground carrying out the day-to-day fire safety arrangements. Our Fire Warden Training course covers evacuation procedure, sweeps, assembly-point management and PEEPs — £18 per learner, RoSPA approved and CPD accredited, 60 to 90 minutes online with an instant certificate on passing, and bulk discounts from 10 delegates upwards.

Related guides

• High-Rise Fire Statistics UK: Fires in Tall Buildings & Cladding Remediation Data
• Fire and Rescue Service Statistics UK: Response Times, Staffing & Funding
• Fire Evacuation Statistics UK: Rescues, Drills & Evacuation Behaviour Data
• Fire Door Statistics UK: Failure Rates, Inspections & Compliance Data
• Fire marshal responsibilities: the complete UK duties list

Sources & references

• GOV.UK — BSR building control approval application data (March to May 2026; 12 weeks to 30 May 2026)
• GOV.UK — BSR building control approval application data (January to March 2026; 12 weeks to 30 March 2026)
• GOV.UK — Building Safety Regulator Strategic Plan 2026 to 2027
• HSE — Building Safety Regulator (registration and role)
• Making Buildings Safer (GOV.UK campaign) — Building Assessment Certificates for higher-risk buildings
• Catalyst Group — Building Assessment Certificate outcomes: what early BSR data is telling us (2025/26)
• International Fire & Safety Journal — BSR Gateway 2 update (BSR data to 24 November 2025)
• House of Lords Library — Building Safety Regulator: Industry and Regulators Committee report (2025–26)

Mark McShane

Health & Safety Training Specialist, Online CPD Academy

Mark writes about workplace health & safety, fire safety and accredited online training for Fire Warden Training, part of Online CPD Academy.