Transparency data

Building Safety Regulator building control approval application data May to July 2026

Updated 12 August 2026

Applies to England

All data is correct as of 1 August 2026 and provided by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

Introduction

This is an updated and expanded dataset for our July data publication.

As in previous months, this BSR dataset includes information relating to gateway 2 performance, with the London area performance separate.

We also include data on our internal and external resource usage, as well as early data on gateway 3 performance.

New information this month includes:

• NHS applications as a separate category

• Detailed information on the number of change requests and their processing times

Gateway 2: headline numbers for May to July 2026 – new build and remediation

Status	New higher-risk buildings (HRBs) and conversions	External remediation
Cases in progress	131	330
Invalid or withdrawn	15	19
Decisions made	45	110
New in	53	103
Approval rate	91%	85%
Median approval time	22 weeks	34 weeks
Units approved	7,587	7,433

Commentary

• August 2026 marks 12 months since the Innovation Unit was set up to deal exclusively with new build HRB applications.
• At that point, median approval time for new builds was at 43 weeks with an approval rate of 39%.
• Now, median approval time is 22 weeks with an approval rate of 91%.
• Over the same period, performance of external remediation applications also improved significantly. Approval times fell from 43 weeks to 34 weeks, and approval rates increased from 47% to 85%.

Gateway 2: headline numbers for May to July 2026 – internal works and NHS

Status	Internal works	NHS applications
Cases in progress	981	36
Invalid or withdrawn	257	9
Decisions made	166	19
New in	448	29
Approval rate	77%	84%
Median approval time	32 weeks	24 weeks

Commentary

• We’re reporting NHS applications as a separate category for the first time. Previously, they’ve been reported on within the HRB internal works dataset.
• These can include a range of building work in hospitals, from maintenance to new hospital facilities.
• We have been working closely with the NHS to facilitate the specialist nature of their applications.
• This has started to show positive results, with some recent approvals coming in at the statutory 8-week timescale.
• The median approval time for NHS applications submitted in 2026 has reduced to 13 weeks.
• Showing a similar pattern, the median approval time for HRB internal works applications submitted in 2026 has reduced to 16 weeks.
• Overall median approval times are higher as we continue to close applications from 2025.

All application categories

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	72	122	1,521
18 May	57	88	1,490
25 May	42	53	1,479
1 June	81	58	1,502
8 June	55	49	1,508
15 June	55	49	1,514
22 June	53	48	1,519
29 June	55	37	1,537
6 July	51	39	1,549
13 July	46	56	1,539
20 July	45	38	1,546
27 July	46	45	1,547

Commentary

• There are currently 1,547 gateway 2 applications in progress, a slight drop over the past 12 weeks.
• These include the new build, external remediation, internal refurbishment and NHS applications.
• This data also includes transitional cases. These are projects that revert to BSR when the building control body that was originally overseeing the project stops trading.
• Commenced under the previous building control regime, they are generally more complicated to progress. This is because much of the evidence that we now expect at gateway 2 is not available.
• There are currently 69 transitional cases in progress at gateway 2.

New HRBs and conversions (national)

New HRBs and conversions: new in versus closed decisions (national)​

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	5	5	138
18 May	9	5	142
25 May	3	10	135
1 June	7	3	139
8 June	2	3	138
15 June	4	5	137
22 June	4	4	137
29 June	2	5	134
6 July	2	2	134
13 July	7	9	132
20 July	4	4	132
27 July	4	5	131

New HRBs and conversions: performance (national)

Description	Total
New in	53
In progress	131
Units approved	7,587
Units in progress	30,421

New HRBs and conversions percentages and weeks taken (national)

In the period, there were:

• 45 decisions made
• 15 invalid or withdrawn applications
• 29 complex cases in progress with a median approval time of 32 weeks

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median) ​​
Rejection rate	9%	6
Approval rate	91%	22

Commentary

• Out of 53 applications received over the past 12 weeks, 9 applications were invalidated and 6 withdrawn. Of the 45 decisions made, 41 were approvals and 4 were rejections.
• This means that the 12-week rolling approval rate (not including invalidations and withdrawals) has risen to 91%, with the median approval time steady at 22 weeks.
• For comparison, in the 12 weeks to August 2025, median approval time was at 43 weeks with an approval rate of 39%.
• Complex cases are tracked separately and, whilst the final decision is included in the rejection or approval totals, their median approval time is now at 32 weeks.
• We continue to work closely with industry on a shared understanding of compliance as we try to reduce the number of complex cases in the system.
• The overall combined total is sitting at 131 and has declined slightly over the past month.

Remediation (national)

Remediation: new in versus closed decisions (national)

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	7	4	359
18 May	9	7	361
25 May	9	7	363
1 June	10	16	357
8 June	9	12	354
15 June	7	15	346
22 June	11	9	348
29 June	16	12	352
6 July	8	13	347
13 July	5	16	336
20 July	9	7	338
27 July	3	11	330

Remediation: performance (national)

Description	Total
New in	103
In progress	330
Units approved	7,433
Units in progress	28,778

Remediation: percentages and weeks taken (national)

In the period, there were:

• 110 decisions made
• 19 invalid or withdrawn applications

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Rejection rate	15%	34
Approval rate	85%	34

Commentary

• The rolling 12-week approval rate has stayed at 85%, with the median approval time dropping from 35 to 34 weeks. This remains above target due to the inclusion of decisions on older cases, which have been in the system for some time.
• 13 legacy applications made in 2024 now remain, down from 42 at the start of 2026.
• We also continue to work closely with the sector to help applicants improve the quality of applications.
• This, along with increased resources and more efficient processes, is showing positive results. The median approval time for external remediation applications submitted in 2026 is now at 21 weeks.
• New guidance setting out what level of detail is expected in applications and common shortfalls was published on 22 June 2026.

HRB internal works (national)​

HRB internal works: new in versus closed decisions (national)

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	53	103	906
18 May	35	66	875
25 May	28	32	871
1 June	61	31	901
8 June	37	27	911
15 June	38	24	925
22 June	34	34	925
29 June	33	18	940
6 July	36	21	955
13 July	28	22	961
20 July	28	20	969
27 July	37	25	981

HRB internal works: performance (national)

Description	Total
New in	448
In progress	981

HRB internal works: percentages and weeks taken (national)

In the period, there were:

• 166 decisions made
• 257 invalid or withdrawn applications

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Rejection rate	23%	33
Approval rate	77%	32

Commentary

• The approval rate for internal refurbishment works in category A and B is currently 77%, with a median determination time for approvals of 32 weeks.
• Determination times have risen since the last publication as we have closed a significant number of older applications in recent months.
• This masks the fact that more recent applications are moving through the system more rapidly. The median determination time for internal works applications submitted in 2026 is currently 16 weeks.
• HRB internal work determinations over the past 12 weeks account for around 49% of all gateway 2 decisions. These applications include all internal refurbishment works except NHS.

NHS applications (national)

NHS applications: new in versus closed decisions (national)

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	5	2	38
18 May	1	4	35
25 May	0	1	34
1 June	1	3	32
8 June	1	3	30
15 June	5	2	33
22 June	3	1	35
29 June	2	0	37
6 July	2	2	37
13 July	5	4	38
20 July	2	5	35
27 July	2	1	36

NHS applications: performance (national)

Description	Total
New in	29
In progress	36

NHS applications: percentages and weeks taken (national)

In the period, there were:

• 19 decisions made
• 9 invalid or withdrawn applications

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Rejection rate	16%	11
Approval rate	84%	24

Commentary

• NHS applications are now shown separately from HRB internal works.
• The approval rate for NHS internal refurbishment is currently 84%.
• Some more recent applications have been determined at, or close to, the statutory 8-week target.
• The median approval time for NHS applications submitted in 2026 has reduced to 13 weeks.
• However, the overall median determination time for approvals is at 24 weeks as we close older applications.

Gateway 2: regional distribution​

Data as of 1 August 2026.​

Regional gateway 2 applications (London)

Region	New HRBs and conversions	remediation	HRB internal works	NHS	Transitional
London	85	187	653	15	32
Rest of England	37	142	311	20	33

Regional gateway 2 applications (rest of England)

Region	New HRBs and conversions	remediation	HRB internal works	NHS	Transitional
East	0	17	40	2	1
East Midlands	0	12	25	1	1
North East	0	8	32	5	2
North West	18	42	34	1	15
South East	6	30	32	3	4
South West	3	20	70	3	5
West Midlands	4	2	30	1	1
Yorkshire and The Humber	5	11	38	4	4

New HRBs and conversions (London)

New HRBs and conversions: new in versus closed decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	5	3	88
18 May	7	4	91
25 May	3	4	90
1 June	4	2	92
8 June	1	2	91
15 June	1	4	88
22 June	3	2	89
29 June	2	3	88
6 July	0	2	86
13 July	3	3	86
20 July	2	3	85
27 July	2	2	85

New HRBs and conversions: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	33
In progress	85
Units approved	3,841
Units in progress	17,552

New HRBs and conversions: percentages and weeks taken (London)

In the period, there were:

• 27 decisions made
• 7 invalid or withdrawn applications
• 21 complex cases in progress with a median approval time of 31 weeks

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Rejection rate	7%	6
Approval rate	93%	23

Commentary

• Around 65% of in-progress new build applications are in London.
• This also represents around 58% of the overall new build residential units handled by BSR.
• 25 of the 45 new build decisions made in the last 12 weeks are in London.
• London approval rates are 93%. This figure reflects the significant effort that has gone in to resolve outstanding complex cases.
• Approval time for non-complex cases is 23 weeks, slightly above the national average.

Remediation (London)

Remediation: new in versus closed decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	4	1	198
18 May	7	3	202
25 May	6	3	205
1 June	6	10	201
8 June	4	4	201
15 June	4	9	196
22 June	7	5	198
29 June	4	3	199
6 July	3	6	196
13 July	4	7	193
20 July	4	6	191
27 July	2	6	187

Remediation: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	55
In progress	187
Units approved	3,422
Units in progress	15,814

Remediation: percentages and weeks taken (London)

In the period, there were:

• 52 decisions made
• 11 invalid or withdrawn applications

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Rejection rate	8%	27
Approval rate	92%	31

Commentary

• Open remediation cases in London have dropped over the period from 195 to 187.
• We announced the BSR remediation improvement plan in April 2026.
• We have already made progress with 13 legacy 2024 applications now remaining, down from 42 at the start of 2026.
• The median approval time in weeks based on the rolling total shows our effort on closing older 2024 to 2025 applications. This is affecting the overall median approval times.
• Applications submitted in 2026 are being determined much more quickly.
• 2026 approval rates already exceed the greater than 65% target for 2026 at 85%.
• London approval rates of 95% are slightly higher than they are nationally.

HRB internal works (London)

HRB internal works: new in versus closed decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	22	72	580
18 May	23	38	565
25 May	23	20	568
1 June	37	23	582
8 June	27	14	595
15 June	32	18	609
22 June	22	21	610
29 June	22	9	623
6 July	25	11	637
13 July	18	16	639
20 July	20	13	646
27 July	27	20	653

HRB internal works: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	298
In progress	653

HRB internal works: percentages and weeks taken (London)

• 108 decisions made
• 167 invalid or withdrawn applications

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Rejection rate	24%	37
Approval rate	76%	30

Commentary

• The approval rate for internal refurbishment works in categories A and B is currently 76%, with a median determination time of 27 weeks for approvals. This is very similar to the national average.
• The overall combined total is less than would be expected in steady state, currently sitting at 653, having increased slightly over the past 12 weeks.
• HRB internal work determinations over the past 12 weeks account for around 66% of gateway 2 decisions in London. These applications include all internal refurbishment works except NHS applications.

NHS applications (London)

NHS applications: new in versus closed decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Closed decisions	Total cases in progress
11 May	2	0	15
18 May	0	1	15
25 May	0	1	14
1 June	0	1	13
8 June	0	1	12
15 June	3	0	14
22 June	0	0	14
29 June	2	0	16
6 July	2	0	18
13 July	1	2	17
20 July	0	2	15
27 July	0	0	15

NHS applications: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	10
In progress	15
Units approved	6
Units in progress	15

NHS applications: percentages and weeks taken (London)

In the period, there were:

• 7 decisions made
• 1 invalid or withdrawn application

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Rejection rate	14%	10
Approval rate	86%	27

Commentary

• NHS applications have now been split from HRB internal works.
• The approval rate for NHS internal refurbishment works is currently 86%, with a median determination time for approvals of 27 weeks. This is slightly higher than the national average.

Building control resources: people working on building control applications

Week commencing	Internal resources	External resources	Total resources
11 May	96	247	343
18 May	102	256	358
25 May	91	235	326
1 Jun	103	277	380
8 Jun	110	281	391
15 Jun	115	262	377
22 Jun	122	256	378
29 Jun	134	252	386
6 Jul	142	254	396
13 Jul	149	261	410
20 Jul	144	255	399
27 Jul	137	206	343

Building control resources: performance

Description	Total
Internal resources	137
External resources	206
Integrated resources	65

Building control resources: resource breakdown

Internal resources

Description	Total
Regulatory leads	100
Principal regulatory leads	15
Case officers	56
Case officer managers	5

External resources

Description	Total
Registered building inspectors	221
Fire service professionals	111
Structural engineers	135
Specialists	39

Integrated resources

Description	Total
Registered building inspectors	36
Fire service professionals	7
Structural engineers	22

Commentary

• Sufficient internal, external and integrated resources are essential for BSR to meet demand. We have grown our internal regulatory team by 25 over the past 3 months, and we are continuing to actively recruit over the next 6 to 12 months. We are also growing our integrated resource teams to meet demand, see the ‘Building control integrated resources’ section.
• 176 internal staff members have been involved in building control applications, including 100 regulatory leads, 15 principal regulatory leads, 56 case officers, 5 case officer managers.
• 506 people from external organisations have been involved in building control applications, including 221 registered building inspectors, 111 fire service professionals, 135 structural engineers, 39 specialists.
• Of the 506 people sourced or seconded from external organisations, 65 are integrated into BSR’s Innovation Unit or external remediation teams. This includes 36 RBIs, 7 fire service professionals and 22 structural engineers.

Building control integrated resources

BSR has several specialist resources working as part of an integrated workforce within the new build and external remediation teams. We are growing this capacity to meet demand and reduce processing times.

Note that full-time equivalent (FTE) is an aggregated total of staff availability, as some people are available fewer than 5 days per week.

Resource	FTE as of 31 July	Headcount as of 31 July	August forecast (FTE)	September forecast (FTE)	October forecast (FTE)
Registered building inspectors	23.3	36	25.3	29.3	34.3
Structural engineers	20	22	20	21	25
Fire service professionals and engineers	6.6	7	6.6	6.6	11.6
Total	49.9	65	51.9	56.9	70.9

In build: major changes from May to July 2026

Data as of 1 August 2026.

In build: new in versus closed applications

Week commencing	New in	Closed applications	Total cases in progress
11 May	11	3	165
18 May	12	13	164
25 May	6	12	158
1 June	7	15	150
8 June	8	6	152
15 Jun	14	11	155
22 Jun	12	9	158
29 Jun	8	2	164
6 Jul	19	8	175
13 Jul	20	7	188
20 Jul	9	11	186
27 Jul	14	19	181

Application type	Live major change requests	New in	Closed	Median weeks to close
New HRBs and conversions	76	83	68	7
Remediation	21	19	28	14
NHS applications	60	27	15	8
HRB internal works	21	9	1	20

Commentary

• BSR recognises that the timely processing of major change requests during build is vital to ensure construction can continue.
• There are currently 181 live major change requests, with 112 having been closed.
• The median closure time for new build projects is currently at 7 weeks, just one week more than the statutory target.
• Transitional major change requests make up the remaining 3 of the 181 not shown in the in-build data tables, with 2 new in and 4 closed.

Gateway 3 applications

Data as of 1 August 2026.

Gateway 3 applications: new in versus closed applications

Week commencing	New in	Closed applications	Total cases in progress
11 May	5	4	123
18 May	5	4	122
25 May	8	2	128
1 Jun	4	1	128
8 Jun	2	9	126
15 Jun	7	2	131
22 Jun	4	3	134
29 Jun	3	2	128
6 Jul	5	1	131
13 Jul	1	0	129
20 Jul	1	0	128
27 Jul	0	0	127

Gateway 3 applications: performance

Application type	In progress	Units	Approvals	New in
New HRBs and conversions	0	0	0	0
Remediation	5	655	1	3
NHS internal works	81	NA	13	30
HRB internal works	15	NA	4	7

Commentary

• While no new build projects that have passed through gateway 2 have reached gateway 3, a significant number of internal refurbishment projects have already passed through gateway 2.
• Of the 319 gateway 3 applications received, 235 are internal refurbishments. Most the remaining applications are transitional cases (47) and NHS internal refurbishments (23).
• Over the past 12 weeks, 29 gateway 3 applications have been determined with an approval rate of 72% and a median determination time of 16 weeks. The quickest determination was 8 weeks. This is an important area for BSR, particularly for new build projects, and we expect determination times to reduce as new processes are introduced and more resource is found.