Transparency data

Building control approval application data November 2025 to January 2026

Updated 27 February 2026

Applies to England

All data is correct as of 23 January 2026 and provided by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

Gateway 2: Priority headline numbers for new build

Status	Legacy cases	Innovation Unit (UI)	Legacy transitional cases	Total
New cases received	0	99	0	99
Decisions made	52	39	6	97
Live cases as of 1 Oct	91	27	34	152
Live cases as of 20 Jan	29	111	30	170

​ Total number of units in new cases received 19,600 ​

​

 ​ Total number of units in decisions made 19,914 ​

​

 ​ Total number of units in live cases as of 20 January 37,065 ​

Commentary

• In the 12 weeks to 23 January, 97 new build applications have been determined with 99 new applications received.
• Legacy cases have now reduced to 29. Having worked closely with applicants on these older cases, we are now evaluating whether the continued use of resources, enhanced engagement and peer reviews are likely to result in successful outcomes, or whether it is now more appropriate to reject and invite a new submission.
• Applications to the Innovation Unit (IU) are showing a high initial invalidation rate of 56% indicating essential information is missing. However, once past this basic check, we are seeing a 30% approval rate; and we are working with applicants to increase this further. A further 23% of cases have gone beyond the 12-week service level agreement but are assessed as having the potential for approval pending further information. These cases are being handled individually by dedicated account managers.
• Over the past 12 weeks new applications representing 19,600 residential units have been received. Applications representing 19,914 units have been determined, of which 11,962 were approvals. There are currently 37,065 units in live cases.

Innovation Unit: new in versus decisions (national)​

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	2	2	51​
10 Nov	14	4	61​
17 Nov	7	1	67
24 Nov	12	3	76​
1 Dec	8	0	84
8 Dec	11	5	90
15 Dec	21	11	100​
22 Dec	7	8	99
29 Dec	1	0	100​
5 Jan	5	4	101
12 Jan	4	0	105
19 Jan	7	1	111

Innovation Unit: performance totals (national)​

Description	Total
New in	99​
Live	111
Units approved	940 ​
Units in progress	25,226 ​

Innovation Unit: performance percentages and weeks taken (national)​

There were a total of 39 decisions made, taking a median time of 3 weeks.​

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median) ​​
Invalid	56%	1​
Withdrawn	3%	12​
Rejections	18%	14 ​
Decision made, with account manager	10%	12​​
Approval	13%	13

Commentary

• The head of work in the Innovation Unit has steadied over the past month, but we expect the rate of new applications to increase in the coming months as we progress towards a steady-state caseload of between 120 and 180.

• Five applications have now been approved at around the 12 to 13 week point.

• It is concerning that more than half of the applications to the IU are failing initial validation checks – this is a basic check of essential documents. Whilst we continue to point applicants towards the CLC guidance developed with support from BSR, we are actively looking at how we can further support applicants as they prepare their applications.

• Of the applications that progress past validation and are not withdrawn, 41% have been rejected and 30% approved. BSR has a continued focus on increasing approval rates for safe applications.

• The remaining 23% are cases which are over 12 weeks, but are considered to have the potential to achieve an approval with further information, are thus being closely managed by dedicated account managers.

Legacy cases: new in versus decisions (national)

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	0	6	75​
10 Nov	0	2	73​
17 Nov	0	8	65​
24 Nov	0	4	61​
1 Dec	0	4	57
8 Dec	0	2	55​
15 Dec	0	16	39​
22 Dec	0	4	35​
29 Dec	0	0	35​
5 Jan	0	4	31
12 Jan	0	0	31
19 Jan	0	2	29

Legacy cases: performance (national)

Description	Total
New in	0
Live	29
Units approved	10,414
Units in progress	7,051

Legacy cases: performance percentages and weeks taken (national)

There were a total of 52 decisions made, taking a median time of 37 weeks.

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Invalid	0%	Not applicable
Withdrawn	2%	18
Rejections	12%	26
Decision made, with account manager	0%	Not applicable
Approval	87%	37

Commentary

• Legacy new build cases continue to reduce.
• From 81 at the start of November, as of 20 January, 52 decisions have reduced the legacy cohort to 29.
• The approval rate of these older cases continues to be high at 87% as we strive to do all we can to achieve successful outcomes.
• Nevertheless, these cases continue to use significant BSR resources and thus the remaining cases are now being individually examined to judge whether there is merit in continuing to work with the applicants, or whether, having given them every opportunity to progress, the information gap that remains means that achieving an approval within the next 1-2 months is unlikely. If that is the case, then those cases will be rejected.

Remediation: new in versus decisions (national)

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	5	3	290
10 Nov	5	4	291
17 Nov	12	4	299
24 Nov	4	11	292
1 Dec	7	10	289
8 Dec	7	4	292
15 Dec	21	13	300
22 Dec	4	8	296
29 Dec	1	2	295
5 Jan	3	4	294
12 Jan	4	5	293
19 Jan	0	7	286

Remediation: performance (national)

Description	Total
New in	73
Live	286
Units approved	3,858
Units in progress	24,949

Remediation: performance percentages and weeks taken (national)

There were a total of 75 decisions made, taking a median time of 30 weeks.

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Invalid	13%	2
Withdrawn	8%	38
Rejections	32%	18
Decision made, with account manager	0%	Not applicable
Approval	47%	34

Commentary

• Open remediation cases have held steady over the period at just over 280.
• We remain focused on closing out older applications submitted at the start of the regime which typically do not contain sufficient detail for a decision and so require significant effort to move through to a successful conclusion.
• In parallel we focus on higher -risk projects and those where there is a funding constraint.
• Remediation applications are a particular area of concern in terms of application quality and BSR teams are routinely having to work with applicants over extended periods of time to obtain missing key elements of detail needed to demonstrate compliance.
• We recognise that this issue, alongside improvements in BSR processes and resources, needs to be addressed, and we will be bringing forward a BSR remediation improvement plan in the coming weeks detailing how we intend to achieve this.
• The batching pilot has now delivered several remediation decisions – 3 approvals and 9 rejections.

Gateway 2: All categories (national)

All categories: new in versus decisions (national)

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	30	56	1,201
10 Nov	58	37	1,222
17 Nov	61	49	1,234
24 Nov	59	53	1,240
1 Dec	53	115	1,178
8 Dec	66	59	1,185
15 Dec	105	122	1,168
22 Dec	36	59	1,145
29 Dec	8	11	1,142
5 Jan	59	44	1,157
12 Jan	59	44	1,172
19 Jan	36	49	1,159

All categories: performance (national)

Description	Total
New in	630
Live	1,159

All categories: performance percentages and weeks taken (national)

There were a total of 698 decisions made, taking a median time of 16 weeks.

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Invalid	39%	1
Withdrawn	13%	42
Rejections	15%	26
Decision made, with account manager	1%	12
Approval	32%	30

Commentary

• The number of live applications of all categories at gateway 2 now shows a downward trend, reducing from 1,225 to 1,159 over the past 12 weeks.
• The final quarter of 2025 saw the highest number of decisions in any quarter since BSR commenced operations, with a total of 673 compared to just over 200 in Q1 2025.
• Category A, B and ‘other’ account for circa 75%+ of gateway 2 volume of decisions.

Gateway 2: Regional distribution​

Data as of the 23 January 2026.​

Regional gateway 2 applications (London)​

Region	Innovation Unit (IU)	Legacy cases	Remediation	Total
London	61	17	155	233
Rest of country	50	12	131	1943

​

Regional gateway 2 applications (rest of England)​

Region	Innovation Unit (IU)	Legacy cases	Remediation	Total
East	0	1	14	15
East Midlands	1	2	17	20
North-east	1	0	7	8
North-west	24	3	28	55
South-east	5	1	22	28
South-west	2	5	11	18
West Midlands	3	1	12	16
Yorkshire and The Humber	13	0	20	33

Gateway 2: Innovation Unit (London)

Innovation Unit: new in versus decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	0	1	26
10 Nov	4	3	27
17 Nov	2	1	28
24 Nov	7	1	34
1 Dec	8	0	42
8 Dec	7	5	44
15 Dec	15	7	52
22 Dec	5	6	51
29 Dec	1	0	52
5 Jan	4	3	53
12 Jan	3	0	56
19 Jan	5	0	61

Innovation Unit: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	61
Live	61
Units approved	409
Units in progress	11,964

Innovation Unit: performance percentages and weeks taken (London)

There were a total of 27 decisions made, taking a median time of 5 weeks.

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Invalid	56%	1
Withdrawn	0%	Not applicable
Rejections	26%	14
Decision made, with account manager	4%	12
Approval	15%	13

Commentary

• More than half of the current live IU applications are in London.
• This represents around 45% of the overall residential units handled by the IU.
• 27 of the 39 decisions that the IU has made are in London.
• London applications mirror the national picture with more than half of the applications to the IU failing initial validation checks – this is a basic check of essential documents. Whilst we continue to point applicants towards the CLC guidance developed with support from the BSR, we are actively looking at how we can further support applicants as they prepare their applications.
• Of the applications that progress past validation and are not withdrawn, 58% have been rejected and 33% approved.
• The remaining 8% are cases which are over 12 weeks, but are considered to have the potential to achieve an approval with further information, are thus are being closely managed by dedicated account managers.

Gateway 2: Legacy cases (London)

Legacy cases: new in versus decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	0	5	41
10 Nov	0	1	40
17 Nov	0	4	36
24 Nov	0	2	34
1 Dec	0	2	32
8 Dec	0	1	31
15 Dec	0	9	22
22 Dec	0	3	19
29 Dec	0	0	19
5 Jan	0	0	19
12 Jan	0	0	19
19 Jan	0	2	17

Legacy cases: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	0
Live	17
Units approved	5,734
Units in progress	4,576

Innovation Unit: performance percentages and weeks taken (London)

There were a total of 29 decisions made, taking a median time of 37 weeks.

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Invalid	0%	Not applicable
Withdrawn	3%	18
Rejections	7%	46
Decision made, with account manager	0%	Not applicable
Approval	90%	38

Commentary

• Legacy cases in London have reduced sharply, mirroring the national picture.
• From 46 live cases in November, 29 decisions have reduced the London legacy cohort to 17, with 5,734 residential units approved.
• Of note is the sustained high approval rate of 90% which has been achieved as a result of significant investment of BSR time and resources.

Gateway 2: Remediation (London)

Remediation: new in versus decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	2	1	155
10 Nov	0	1	154
17 Nov	7	4	157
24 Nov	4	5	156
1 Dec	2	2	156
8 Dec	5	2	159
15 Dec	11	6	164
22 Dec	2	2	164
29 Dec	0	1	163
5 Jan	2	2	163
12 Jan	0	4	159
19 Jan	0	4	155

Remediation: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	35
Live	155
Units approved	1,917
Units in progress	12,073

Remediation: performance percentages and weeks taken (London)

There were a total of 34 decisions made, taking a median time of 34 weeks.

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Invalid	6%	2
Withdrawn	9%	66
Rejections	38%	36
Decision made, with account manager	0%	Not applicable
Approval	47%	30

Commentary

• Open remediation cases in London have increased slightly over the period from 154 to 155.
• We recognise that application quality alongside improvements in BSR processes and resources are needed, and we will be bringing forward a BSR remediation improvement plan in the coming weeks detailing how we intend to achieve this.

Gateway 2: All categories (London)

All categories: new in versus decisions (London)

Week commencing	New in	Decisions	Total live cases
3 Nov	18	39	780
10 Nov	28	22	786
17 Nov	37	37	786
24 Nov	47	33	800
1 Dec	33	76	757
8 Dec	40	46	751
15 Dec	77	88	740
22 Dec	27	41	726
29 Dec	6	6	726
5 Jan	37	27	736
12 Jan	32	29	739
19 Jan	27	32	734

All categories: performance (London)

Description	Total
New in	409
Live	734

All categories: performance percentages and weeks taken (London)

There were a total of 476 decisions made, taking a median time of 16 weeks.

Description	Percentage	Weeks taken (median)
Invalid	37%	1
Withdrawn	13%	52
Rejections	17%	28
Decision made, with account manager	1%	12
Approval	32%	29

Commentary

• The number of live London applications of all categories at gateway 2 now shows a clear downward trend, reducing from 801 to 734 over the past 12 weeks.
• The final quarter of 2025 will see the highest number of determinations in London since BSR commenced operations, with the 457 decisions over the past 12 weeks.
• 68% of all decisions across all gateway 2 categories in the past 12 weeks related to London cases.
• Category A, B and ‘other’ account for circa 75%+ of gateway 2 volume of decisions in London.

Building control: Batching pilot

Batch volumes: cases allocated by batch number

Batch number	New build	Refurbs	Remediation	Total
1	12	27	10	49
2	0	33	14	47
3	8	19	3	30
4	23	9	16	48
5	4	16	10	30
6	3	22	14	39
7	29	60	43	132
8	8	33	13	54
9	9	6	4	19
10	2	15	9	26
11	1	10	9	20
12	10	8	2	20
13	12	18	25	55

Commentary

• A pilot batching process was launched during September, acknowledging that the original multi-disciplinary team model was not effective for managing the volume of cases across all categories of application.
• This new pilot process scales capacity by bundling applications to specialised engineering services suppliers for accelerated assessment, with BSR maintaining regulatory oversight. The primary goal of batching is to accelerate backlog resolution in new build and remediation applications.
• The first of these mixed-category bundles (26 cases) was sent to suppliers on 30 September. Weekly dispatch of subsequent bundles have been, and continue to be, based on supplier capacity.
• We are still evaluating the batching model, but it is evident that initial processing times for applications is significantly quicker than under the previous model.
• The data shown in this and following slides is a subset of the overall data shown on earlier sides – for example, batching is part of the overall process, not additional.
• The model follows a process where batches are issued to suppliers, they then have a limited time to accept or reject the cases in the allocation based on their capacity and any conflicts of interest. Once accepted, suppliers then have a defined period to return their assessments for consideration by BSR’s regulatory leads.

Batching pilot performance: new builds

Issued	Not yet accepted	Accepted	Returned	Decision made
190	120	70	46	20

​ Median weeks from issued to return 4 ​

​

​ Median weeks from issued to decision 6 ​

​

Batched new build decisions

Decision made	Percentage
Approval	15%
Approval with requirements	25% ​
Rejection	50%
Withdrawn	10%

Commentary

• Batching in new builds is being used to support only part of the overall building control application with the majority of the applications being considered by our in-house teams.
• The batching approach is being used in some cases to access specialist resource to evaluate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling in support of fire strategies submitted as part of an application.

Batching pilot performance: external remediation

Issued	Not yet accepted	Accepted	Returned	Decision made
230	18	212	71	13

​ Median weeks from issued to return 4 ​

​

​ Median weeks from issued to decision 7.5 ​

​

Batched remediation decisions

Decision made	Percentage
Approval	15%
Approval with requirements	25%​
Rejection	50%
Withdrawn	10%

Commentary

• External remediation often requires a ‘full’ multi-disciplinary team (MDT), made up of the 3 core specialisms (registered building inspectors, fire and structural engineers).
• Batching allows us to allocate remediation applications to one or more suppliers who have these capabilities available (while BSR maintains regulatory oversight) and is distributed across suppliers according to capacity.

Batching pilot performance: refurbishments

Issued	Not yet accepted	Accepted	Returned	Decision made
390	217	173	129	20

​ Median weeks from issued to return 4 ​

​

​ Median weeks from issued to decision 6 ​

​

Batched refurbishment decisions

Decision made	Percentage
Approval	35% ​
Approval with requirements	0% ​
Rejection	60%
Withdrawn	5%

Commentary

• As with external remediation, category A refurbishments often require a ‘full’ multi-disciplinary team (MDT), made up of the 3 core specialisms (registered building inspectors, fire and structural engineers).
• Batching allows us to allocate these refurbishment applications to one or more suppliers who have these capabilities available and is distributed across suppliers according to capacity.

Gateway 2: Innovation Unit resources​

Role	Actual as of 20 Jan	Forecast February (mid-month)	Forecast March (mid-month)	Forecast April (mid-month)
Registered building inspectors	21	25	26	26
Structural engineers	13	13	13	13
Fire engineers	7.6	8	8	8

All numbers are full-time equivalent – for example, some people are available to BSR fewer than 5 days per week, so the totals shown are aggregated.

Commentary

• BSR draws building inspector, structural engineer and fire engineer resources from partner organisations across the public and private sector.
• These resources were brought in-house within BSR for the first time as part of the IU and allow BSR to have better control over resource allocation and tasking.
• The provision of sufficient resource of this type is therefore critical to enabling the IU’s work. Class 3 registered building inspectors are the most scarce.
• Having met our initial operating capability for the core IU, we are continuing to grow capacity to provide much needed support other application categories such as remediation and also build resilience.