By Sarah Donnelly · Published 23 June 2026 · 3 min read
The Building Safety Regulator has reported a 75 percent approval rate for Gateway 2 applications in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026. The latest data confirms that the regulator's new multidisciplinary Innovation Unit is successfully accelerating the high-rise residential building approval process, clearing out older applications and providing faster decisions for compliant developers.
Background
Gateway 2 is a mandatory checkpoint under the Building Safety Act 2022. It requires developers of higher-risk buildings to secure regulatory approval before any construction work begins. The regime initially faced heavy industry criticism for sluggish decision times and excessive backlogs. To resolve this, the Building Safety Regulator introduced an external remediation improvement plan in April 2026. This plan deployed a multidisciplinary team to mirror the Innovation Unit established last September, cutting individual caseworker loads from an average of 25 down to approximately 10 applications each.
Industry implications
The newly published statistics demonstrate significant momentum. Across all application categories, the regulator made 358 Gateway 2 decisions in the 12-week period. These decisions covered 14,928 residential units, with 9,499 units successfully approved. London schemes accounted for 65 percent of all decisions. Crucially, the Innovation Unit achieved a 90 percent approval rate and cleared all 19 of its complex London cases. Only 16 legacy applications from 2024 remain outstanding. This proves that well-prepared, evidence-based submissions are now moving swiftly through the regulatory system.
What contractors should do now
Developers and principal contractors must front-load their compliance efforts. The high approval rate from the Innovation Unit proves that applications containing a fully verified golden thread of information will be rewarded with faster determinations. You must ensure that your design documentation is flawless and demonstrates absolute compliance with all updated Building Regulations before submission. Do not submit partial applications in the hope of refining them later, as incomplete data remains the primary cause of rejection and costly project delays.
Analysis
Acting chief executive Charlie Pugsley stated that the regulator is safely resolving complex technical challenges by working closely with applicants. However, the data reveals a disparity in processing times. The rolling 12-week average approval time currently sits at 39 weeks. The regulator noted that this high figure is heavily skewed by the focused effort to close out older, more difficult 2024 and 2025 applications. For new builds, the Innovation Unit is processing decisions faster than the rate of new cases being received, which indicates the system is finally functioning as intended.
What happens next
With 38,775 residential units still locked in live cases, the Building Safety Regulator is scheduled to determine the majority of the remaining 16 legacy applications by the end of June 2026. As the historic backlog is eradicated, developers should anticipate significantly faster statutory turnaround times for new applications submitted throughout the remainder of 2026. Contractors pricing new high-rise tenders must factor in these improved, yet still substantial, lead times to avoid costly mobilisation delays.
Sources
- Project Safety Journal — Association for Project Safety
- London Construction Magazine
