Since October 2023, the BSR has acted as building control for ‘higher-risk’ buildings, which include residential buildings and hospitals taller than 18m.

Although the body aims to process Gateway 2 applications within 12 weeks, it took almost triple that time (an average of 36 weeks) in the period up until March 2o25, according to official data.

Now, new Freedom of Information (FOI) data exclusively obtained by the AJ shows there are 72 Gateway 2 applications – covering a combined 18,436 homes – still waiting to be approved more than 12 weeks after being submitted (see full list below).

It is further understood that around 30,000 homes are at some point on their journey through the BSR process.

Cartwright Pickard is the practice linked to the largest number of outstanding Gateway 2 applications. The BSR has yet to rule on six applications for blocks at Aire Park in Leeds, a 9.7ha mixed-use regeneration it has designed for the former Tetley brewery site. 

The applications on behalf of developer Vastint cover a total of 401 homes, although the principal designer that submitted the Gateway 2 applications is consultant Safer Sphere, rather than Cartwright Pickard. 

Architects with multiple schemes held up Cartwright Pickard 6 Wilmore Iles Architects 4 Berkeley Homes 3 dMFK 3 EPR Architects 3 Child Graddon Lewis 2 CODA Architecture 2 Corstophine & Wright 2 Fraser Brown Mackenna 2 Patel Taylor 2 Pollard Thomas Edwards 2 PRP 2 Sheppard Robson 2 Weedon Architects 2 White Ink Architects 2

Elsewhere, Wilmore Iles Architects is the architect and principal designer behind four under-consideration Gateway 2 applications covering 144 homes. Each application relates to blocks at West Park, a student housing scheme for the University of Exeter. 

dMFK is linked to three outstanding Gateway 2 applications – part of Barratt London’s Bell Green Homes scheme in Lewisham – while EPR is linked to three separate high-risk schemes awaiting sign-off – in Blackfriars, Fulham and the Isle of Dogs. 

Leeds City Council is the local authority with the most delayed applications. It has eight schemes held up at Gateway 2 – twice the number of any other council. Four councils, including three in London, are waiting for four applications to be signed off. 

Of the 72 applications, 37 are for sites in London. More than half (18) of London’s boroughs have a site with a delayed Gateway 2 application, while outside the capital, the areas with the most applications are Leeds, Exeter, Manchester, Reading and Bristol. 

Local authorities with outstanding Gateway 2 applications Non-London London Local Authority No. schemes Local authority No. Scheme Leeds City Council 8 Brent 4 Exeter City Council 4 Ealing 4 Manchester City Council 3 Southwark 4 Reading Borough Council 3 Barnett 3 Bristol City Council 3 Lewisham 3 Newcastle City Council 2 Greenwich 3 Birmingham City Council 2 Haringey 2 Luton Borough Council 2 Newham 2 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 1 Tower Hamlets 2 Elmbridge Borough Council 1 Sutton 2 Liverpool City Council 1 Camden 1 Salford City Council 1 Croydon 1 Sheffield City Council 1 Enfield 1 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council 1 Hammersmith & Fulham 1 Worthing Borough Council 1 Waltham Forest 1 Charnwood Borough Council 1 Wandsworth 1 Chelsea and Kensington 1 Lambeth 1 Total 35 Total 37

At the end of June, the government acknowledged that the BSR was holding up housebuilding and unveiled ‘a new package of reforms’ to the regulator ‘to unblock delays and boost sector confidence’. An additional £2.1 million has been promised to improve the regulator’s services.

The government said the BSR would no longer be overseen by the Health and Safety Executive, new investment would support the recruitment of 100 new staff ,and a ‘new fast track process’ would ‘enhance the view of new build applications’. 

In its FOI response, the BSR accepted that the enforcement of building control standards had delayed some higher-risk building approvals.

But it said that ‘not enforcing the law risks the safety of residents in high-rise buildings’ and that the purpose of the Building Safety Act 2022 was ‘to prevent the failures that led to the Grenfell tragedy ever happening again’.

The regulator added that a ‘backlog of complex in-flight higher risk projects’ had come to the BSR after the collapse of a private registered building control approver, AIS Surveyors. This, it said, had initially driven up processing times.

The BSR claimed there had also been a ‘handful of very complex cases that have taken 11 months’, but that 90 per cent of these had now been cleared. It said a significant factor in the hold-ups had been the quality of information supplied, prompting repeated information requests.

The regulator said that the biggest cause of delays remained the quality of the applications made by developers.

It claimed that around 70 per cent of applications failed to comply with building regulations and ‘are therefore rejected’.

It said a new internal innovation unit would focus on fast-tracking new-build applications through the system. This would ‘streamline and speed up’ the process for new homes in high-rise buildings by introducing a new operating model with in-house multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs).

A new Remediation Enforcement Unit (REU) is being established by the end of 2025 with the specific purpose of quickly assessing cladding risks for registered higher-risk buildings.

Architect’s view: Q&A with SimpsonHaugh 

Have Gateway 2 delays impacted project delivery timelines?

Yes, we have found that clients want to first wait for clarity on the process and try to avoid any initial potential hiccups before submitting the application.

We submitted [for Heron’s Yard in Newcastle] after the BSR Gateway 2 scheme had been running for over six months. Initially, we had no correspondence, but after around 25 weeks post submission, in the last couple of weeks, we have had correspondence from the BSR case officer seeking clarifications and asking questions. This is a positive sign. We don’t have any idea how much longer the process will require before a determination will be made.

Do the BSR Gateway 2 delays make managing peaks and troughs of workloads more difficult?

Significantly. Projects have been delayed more than once as clients seek to navigate a route forward. Changes to guidance documents have also impacted the programmes. Different projects are affected in different ways. A residential scheme may be delayed by six months, which is frustrating. However, a student accommodation project delayed by six months means, in reality, it’s likely to be pushed back 12 months to tie in with the academic year.

Is there anything you can do to speed the process up, or are you just in the hands of the BSR or the principal designer?

Collectively, we have tried to be as proactive as possible in the way the information is presented and communicated. The BSR principal designer [Project Four Safety Solutions] has tried to chase and push the regulator to communicate and act. We can see nothing that we could do to speed the process up.

Are you in limbo, or do you have a timeline for when the applications might be processed?

There is no real understanding of how long applications will take. If we submitted a scheme tomorrow, I don’t think we could, with any confidence, tell a client when it might be determined. Also, one of the biggest concerns is lack of consistency. We are seeing different responses to the same design proposals on different applications. On large and complex projects, there are always different ways to achieve a safe and effective design. We need engagement to help this process, and it does feel like this is now beginning to happen.

Local authority view: statement from Ealing Council

Ealing Council is aware of delays in the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateway 2 approvals and shares concerns about the impact this is having on housing delivery

While we support the principles of the Building Safety Act and the need for strong oversight, the current pace of approvals is slowing down development, including affordable housing, at a time when delivery is urgently needed.

We will continue to support applicants where we can, and are working with partners to minimise disruption to local development programmes.

In the meantime, we welcome the government’s recent announcement of additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator to help increase capacity and speed up approvals. Ealing Council has been lobbying for this support, and we are pleased to see progress being made.

Full list of Gateway 2 applications not approved more than 12 weeks after submission Name/location of development Local authority Number of residential units Original/concept architect* Principal Designer Members Hill Development  Phase 1 Weybridge Surrey Elmbridge Borough Council 107 MSMR Architects MSMR Architects Pollard Street, Manchester Manchester City Council 62 Jennings Design Association Jennings Design Association Brindley Drive Birmingham City Council 581 Weedon Architects Weedon Architects The Stage, Luton – Block A&B Luton Borough Council 208 Child Graddon Lewis Safer Sphere 86 Kirkstall Road, Leeds Leeds City Council 205 Cunniff Design Torsion Construction Unite Freestone Island, Bristol Bristol City Council 73 Alec French Architects Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson Fusion Student accommodation Lordship Lane London London Borough of Haringey 521 Corstophine & Wright Corstophine & Wright Vastern Road, Reading – Block D Reading Borough Council 55 Berkeley Homes Orsa Projects Vastern Road, Reading – Block B Reading Borough Council 83 Berkeley Homes Orsa Projects Vastern Road, Reading – Block E Reading Borough Council 27 Berkeley Homes Orsa Projects Apartment Scheme Stockport Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council 148 Paddock Johnson Paddock Johnson FHN451 Chobham Farm London Borough of Newham 73 Boon Brown Lombard Road, Battersea London Borough of Wandsworth 294 Hawkins\Brown Hawkins\Brown Unite Meridian Square London Borough of Newham 165 BDP Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson The Biscuit Factory – Block W London Borough of Southwark 69 AFK 5PA Architects Building 3, Claremont Road, Cricklewood London Borough of Barnet 158 Chase New Homes Chase New Homes The Biscuit Factory – Blocks OPQ London Borough of Southwark 187 5PA Architects 30 Marsh Wall, London, EI4 9TP London Borough of Tower Hamlets 1068 EPR Tide Construction The Hale London Borough of Haringey 249 Tate Hindle RG Group Sawyers Close, Windsor Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 65 PRP Hill Partnerships Nursery Street Apartments Sheffield City Council 267 CODA Architecture Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson Ravensbourne Wharf Royal Borough of Greenwich 414 PRP Architects ACA Studios Bollo Lane, Acton, Block A Gateway 2 London Borough of Ealing 195 Allies & Morrison Hunter & Partners 2 Moorfield Road EN3 5TU London Borough of Enfield 100 HTA Design Orsa Projects 40 – 46 Albert Road Bristol City Council 454 AHMM AHMM Boord Street Royal Borough of Greenwich 352 Frank Reynolds Architects Frank Reynolds Architects YourTribe Wembley North London Borough of Brent 200 White Ink Architects White Ink Architects YourTribe Wembley South London Borough of Brent 399 White Ink Architects White Ink Architects 100 Chalk Farm Road London Borough of Camden 294 Ryder Architecture Ryder Architecture FG Parkside Residential Development Salford City Council 518 Denton Corker Marshall Project Four Safety Solutions Loughborough Student Accommodation Charnwood Borough Council 541 Corstophine & Wright Corstophine and Wright Wyvil Road London Borough of Lambeth 347 Stephen Davy Smith Architects Safer Sphere R2a Aire Park, Leeds Leeds City Council 63 Cartwright Pickard Safer Sphere R2b Aire Park, Leeds Leeds City Council 69 Cartwright Pickard Safer Sphere R2c Aire Park, Leeds Leeds City Council 44 Cartwright Pickard Safer Sphere Smithfield – Plot One Birmingham City Council 307 Bell Phillips and Intervention Safer Sphere Embassy Garden A01 Royal Borough Chelsea and Kensington 247 Weedon Architects Weedon Architects Millwright Street, Leeds Leeds City Council 308 CODA Architecture Safer Sphere Herons Yard Newcastle City Council 409 SimpsonHaugh Project Four Safety Solutions 220 Blackfriars, Almshouse London Borough of Southwark 65 EPR Architects EPR Architects Coronation Square Phase 2 London Borough of Waltham Forest 367 Pollard Thomas Edwards Data not provided The Stage – Block C Luton Borough Council 84 Child Graddon Lewis Safer Sphere Bell Green Works Application 1 of 3 Block ABC London Borough of Lewisham 114 dMFK ATP Architects + Surveyors Bell Green Works Application 2 of 3 Block D London Borough of Lewisham 60 dMFK ATP Architects + Surveyors Bell Green Works Application 3 of 3 Block EF London Borough of Lewisham 88 dMFK BDW Trading Castle Leazes Student Accommodation Phase 1 Newcastle City Council 792 NORR NORR Haymarket, Bristol Bristol City Council 574 Hodder + Partners RG Group J222 WEA 2025 London Borough of Ealing 412 JTP Tide Construction High Road Wembley Building One London Borough of Brent 361 Fraser Brown Mackenna Fraser Brown Mackenna High Road Wembley – Building 2 London Borough of Brent 639 Fraser Brown Mackenna Fraser Brown Mackenna R3a Aire Park, Leeds Leeds City Council 88 Cartwright Pickard Safer Sphere R3d Aire Park, Leeds Leeds City Council 58 Cartwright Pickard Safer Sphere Brent Cross Town Plot 15 London Borough of Barnet 276 dRMM Midgard Group The Biscuit Factory – Block V London Borough of Southwark 82 5PA Architects The Langley, Sutton – Building F London Borough of Sutton 159 Patel Taylor St George West London The Langley, Sutton – Building G+H- Stage 1 London Borough of Sutton 137 Patel Taylor St George West London R3c – Aire Park, Leeds Leeds City Council 79 Cartwright Pickard Safer Sphere 1 KINGS DOCK STREET Liverpool City Council 297 L7 Architects L7 Architects Worthing Gasworks Worthing Borough Council 44 Grid Architects Grid Architects 56-58 Marsh Wall London Borough of Tower Hamlets 805 Rio Architects RGCM Upper Brook Street PBSA Manchester City Council 737 Sheppard Robson Project Four Safety Solutions 13 – 19 The Green Southall London Borough of Ealing 424 Formation Architects Tide Construction Watford Way – New Build Student Accommodation London Borough of Barnet 180 Innes Associates HG Construction Sherwood Close Phase 3 W13 9YJ London Borough of Ealing 188 Sheppard Robson BM3 Architecture Woolwich Phase 3 Block D Royal Borough of Greenwich 122 Formation Architects Project Four Safety Solutions West Park Block A-D (1 of 4 no. HRB’s) Exeter City Council 40 Wilmore Iles Architects Wilmore Iles Architects West Park Block E-F (No. 2 of 4 new HRB’s) Exeter City Council 24 Wilmore Iles Architects Wilmore Iles Architects West Park Block J-K (No. 3 of 4 new HRB’s) Exeter City Council 33 Wilmore Iles Architects Wilmore Iles Architects West Park Block L-P (No. 4 of 4 new HRB’s) Exeter City Council 47 Wilmore Iles Architects Wilmore Iles Architects Keeley Road London Borough of Croydon 144 Pollard Thomas Edwards Hunters Vita Plot 9b Manchester City Council 861 Tim Groom Architects Project Four Safety Solutions King’s Road Park – Building H1 London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham 129 EPR Architects Design Delivery Unit Total homes held up 18,436 *Architect names for this column were assembled by the AJ. The remaining data was provided by the Building Safety Regulator.