London accounted for 71% of the residential units covered by approved new higher-risk building and conversion applications in the Building Safety Regulator's (BSR) latest Gateway 2 reporting period, according to London Construction Magazine analysis. The official figures published on 6 November 2026 show 6,733 units approved in the capital out of 9,453 nationally, while the overall Gateway 2 approval rate across all building-control categories rose to 92%.
BSR approved 370 applications from 403 decisions during the rolling 12 weeks to 1 November 2026. Of those approvals, 40 involved new higher-risk buildings and conversions, while 113 concerned existing-building remediation. Together, the two residential categories covered 19,409 units, with London again recording some of the strongest approval performance in England.
London secures 29 approvals covering 6,733 homes
The Building Safety Regulator made 30 decisions on new higher-risk buildings and conversions in London during the reporting period, approving 29 and rejecting one. That produced a 97% approval rate in the capital, compared with 95% nationally, where 40 of 42 applications were approved. The median approval period for non-complex London applications was 20 weeks, matching the national figure.
London Construction Magazine calculated that the capital's 6,733 units represented 71.2% of the 9,453 residential units covered by national new-build and conversion approvals. London accounted for 29 of the 40 approved applications, showing how much of the regulator's current higher-risk residential development workload remains concentrated in the capital.
BSR's figures also record 110 London new-build and conversion applications still in progress as of 1 November 2026, covering another 21,997 residential units. Nationally, 183 applications representing 39,843 units remained under assessment. The London caseload includes 21 complex applications, for which the regulator reports a longer median approval period of 40 weeks.
Overall Gateway 2 approvals rise another five percentage points
The latest 92% overall approval rate continues the improvement recorded in LCM's October 2026 Gateway 2 report, when BSR approved 330 of 378 applications, producing an 87% approval rate. The new rolling period contains 403 decisions and 370 approvals, an increase of 25 decisions and 40 approvals compared with the preceding reporting window.
Because BSR uses overlapping 12-week reporting periods, these movements describe changing decision performance rather than separate monthly totals. The latest figures extend the improvement tracked by the London Construction Magazine Gateway 2 Approval Index, which follows the regulator's national approval rates, London decisions, application volumes and construction-stage activity.
| Gateway 2 approval category | To 5 Oct | To 1 Nov |
|---|---|---|
| All Gateway 2 categories | 87% | 92% |
| New HRBs and conversions, national | 96% | 95% |
| New HRBs and conversions, London | 97% | 97% |
| External remediation, national | 87% | 93% |
| External remediation, London | 96% | 98% |
| Internal refurbishment, national | 85% | 91% |
Remediation approvals reach 98% in London
Existing-building remediation recorded another improvement, with BSR approving 113 of 122 national applications during the rolling period. The 93% approval rate compares with 87% in the preceding release, and the approved work covers 9,956 residential units. London's position was stronger still, with 55 approvals from 56 decisions, giving a 98% approval rate and covering 4,881 units.
The number of outstanding remediation cases dating from 2024 has fallen from 42 at the beginning of 2026 to five, including four applications associated with one development. BSR is targeting clearance of the remaining legacy cases by the end of November 2026. Nationally, the regulator has 292 remediation applications in progress, including 171 in London, where the live caseload represents 13,180 residential units.
The national median approval period for remediation remains 32 weeks, while London records 39 weeks. BSR says applications submitted during 2026 are moving more quickly, with a median of approximately 26 weeks and a 90% approval rate nationally. Its assessment is that better-prepared submissions and quicker responses to requests for information are helping applications progress through the process.
Internal refurbishment and NHS decisions improve
Internal refurbishment has also recorded a higher approval rate. BSR determined 218 Category A and B applications for work inside higher-risk buildings, approving 199, or 91%. The previous reporting period recorded an 85% approval rate. Median determination time has reduced to 30 weeks, although the regulator is still handling 1,116 live internal refurbishment applications nationally, including 751 in London.
The NHS category recorded 18 approvals from 21 decisions, giving an 86% national approval rate and a median determination period of 20 weeks. London accounted for six approvals from seven NHS decisions. BSR continues to assess hospital building-control applications separately because of the specialist requirements associated with healthcare facilities.
BSR identifies 24,689 homes in schemes that have started on site
The November release also provides a more detailed breakdown of what happens after new-build Gateway 2 approval. According to the regulator's construction-stage tracking, 114 approved projects representing 24,689 residential units have commenced on site. Another 96 approved projects, covering 24,833 units, have yet to start construction.
These figures give developers and contractors a clearer picture of the route from regulatory approval into physical delivery. They are cumulative project-status figures as of 1 November 2026, while the 9,453 new-build units approved relate specifically to decisions during the latest rolling 12 weeks. BSR also reports 242 live major-change requests across construction projects, with new-build change requests taking a median of seven weeks to close.
No new-build project that has passed through Gateway 2 has yet reached Gateway 3 assessment, according to BSR. Construction-stage inspections are continuing, with the regulator monitoring whether building work follows the designs approved at Gateway 2.
Regulator manages the Building Safety Levy application surge
BSR is continuing to process the sharp increase in new higher-risk building applications submitted before the Building Safety Levy took effect on 1 October 2026. Submissions reached 64 in September, compared with 34 in August and 17 in July, before dropping to six during October. The regulator has introduced validation, triage, demand-management and additional assurance arrangements to handle the workload.
Charlie Pugsley, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Building Safety Regulator, said the figures showed continued progress but maintained that "safe homes require high-quality applications and robust but proportionate regulation." BSR is also expanding its site inspection programme and multidisciplinary workforce, with a focus on compliance with approved designs during construction.
The regulator plans to include investigation and enforcement activity in future transparency releases, alongside the existing data on Gateway 2 applications, determinations and construction-stage changes.
How LCM calculated the London share
London Construction Magazine used the Building Safety Regulator's August to October 2026 transparency data, published on 6 November and reporting positions as of 1 November 2026. Dividing London's 6,733 residential units covered by approved new higher-risk building and conversion applications by the national total of 9,453 gives 71.23%, rounded to 71%. Approval-rate comparisons use BSR's preceding rolling period to 5 October 2026, as recorded in LCM's Gateway 2 Approval Index; the reporting windows overlap. The figures were checked on 6 November 2026.
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