The Gateway 2 Approval Index is a London Construction Magazine intelligence tracker monitoring Building Safety Regulator decision patterns, approval rates, London case concentration, residential units affected, remediation movement, Gateway 3 emergence and operational delivery signals under the Building Safety Act regime.
The index is designed for contractors, developers, consultants, dutyholders, project managers, funders and commercial teams who need to understand how Gateway 2 performance is changing and what those changes mean for higher-risk building delivery. London Construction Magazine tracks not only the headline approval rate, but decision volume, London concentration, live case pressure, internal refurbishment activity, remediation throughput, new-build progress, Gateway 3 performance, major change activity, BSR resourcing and construction-stage inspection signals.
The Building Safety Regulator made 378 building control decisions across higher-risk building categories during the latest rolling 12-week period and approved 330 cases, producing an overall approval rate of 87%, up from 84% in the previous LCM index update. Those approvals represent 20,471 residential units.
New higher-risk buildings and conversions reached 96% nationally, with 55 approvals from 57 decisions representing 11,822 residential units. London approved 36 of 37 projects, producing a 97% approval rate and representing 6,855 units.
Existing-building remediation stood at 87% nationally and 96% in London. BSR approved 96 remediation applications nationally representing 8,649 units, including 52 London approvals representing 4,643 units.
BSR reports 1,706 live Gateway 2 applications across all categories. September submissions surged to 64 new higher-risk building applications ahead of the Building Safety Levy taking effect on 1 October, and the regulator has activated additional assurance, triage and demand-management arrangements.
View the latest Building Safety Regulator transparency data →- Approval Rate Timeline
- Current Snapshot — 12 Weeks to 5 October 2026
- LCM Index Reading
- What Changed in the October BSR Update?
- New Build: 96% Nationally, 97% in London
- Construction-Stage Inspections Remain a Compliance Test
- Existing-Building Remediation: 87% Nationally and 96% in London
- Internal Refurbishment Improves to 85% and Remains the Largest Gateway 2 Workload
- NHS Applications: Approval Time Improves to 20 Weeks
- Gateway 3: 100% Approval Rate, but Only Nine Determinations
- Major Change Requests Increase to 208 Live Cases
- Building Safety Levy Surge Triggers Triage and Extra Assurance
- Regional Gateway 2 Distribution
- BSR Resourcing and Technical Capacity
- Telecoms Rules Changed from 1 September 2026
- Evidence-Based Summary
- Why This Index Matters
- Methodology
- Primary Sources
- Related LCM Analysis
- Next Update
01Approval Rate Timeline
| Reporting Period | Approval Rate | Determinations / Units | LCM Operational Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Transitional Period | Substantially lower initial rates | Gateway 2 regime entering live statutory operation | The early Gateway 2 market exposed widespread misunderstanding of evidence architecture, dutyholder coordination and design maturity requirements. |
| Early 2025 | ~60–65% | Significant proportion of applications queried or returned | The industry was still adapting operationally to BR Principal Designer obligations, Golden Thread expectations and evidence sequencing standards. |
| Late 2025 | Mid-60% range | Rapid increase in Gateway 2 submissions nationally | Submission quality became the dominant programme risk as development teams accelerated applications ahead of funding and procurement milestones. |
| 1 May 2026 release | 71% | 323 decisions · 17,046 units determined | Approval performance was improving, but live case pressure and remediation delays remained major delivery constraints. |
| 30 May 2026 release | 75% | 358 decisions · 14,928 units determined · 9,499 units approved | The May data showed a clear improvement in approval rate and decision throughput, with approvals rising across Gateway 2 categories while London remained the dominant case concentration. |
| 1 July 2026 release | 77% | 368 decisions · 284 approvals | Approval performance continued to improve, with stronger remediation, new-build and early Gateway 3 indicators suggesting that process changes were beginning to produce measurable gains. |
| 6 August 2026 update | 82% | 349 decisions · 287 approvals · 91% new-build approval rate | London new-build approvals reached 93%, remediation reached 92% in the capital and newer applications were generally moving faster. |
| 4 September 2026 update | 84% | 340 decisions · 287 approvals · 92% new-build approval rate | The headline rate improved while absolute approvals remained unchanged across the two overlapping reporting windows. Remediation accelerated and the live Gateway 2 caseload increased. |
| 6 October 2026 update — latest release | 87% | 378 decisions · 330 approvals · 20,471 units · 96% new-build approval rate | Unlike the September movement, the October increase reflects both a higher approval ratio and materially higher absolute throughput. New-build performance strengthened sharply, internal-work approvals improved, remediation remained strong despite easing nationally, and the live caseload rose further as submissions surged ahead of the Building Safety Levy. |
02Current Snapshot — 12 Weeks to 5 October 2026
| Category | Approval Rate | Key Figure | LCM Operational Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Gateway 2 Categories — National | 87% | 378 decisions · 330 approvals · 20,471 units · 1,706 applications in progress | The October release shows a genuine throughput improvement: decisions increased from 340 to 378 and approvals from 287 to 330 while the approval rate rose from 84% to 87%. The live caseload also increased, so improved output is being tested against higher intake. |
| New Higher-Risk Buildings and Conversions | 96% | 55 approvals from 57 decisions · 11,822 units · 23-week median · 186 live cases | New-build performance has strengthened materially from 92%. The median has edged from 22 to 23 weeks as older cases were closed, while the live pipeline expanded to 40,644 residential units. |
| London New-Build and Conversion Decisions | 97% | 36 approvals from 37 decisions · 6,855 units · 22-week median | London moved from 90% to 97% and accounted for 37 of 57 national new-build decisions. Only one London new-build decision was rejected in the latest rolling period. |
| New-Build and Conversion Live Pipeline | — | 186 applications · 40,644 residential units | The live new-build pipeline has increased sharply from 147 cases and 32,691 units, reflecting the pre-levy submission surge and keeping Gateway 2 central to development finance, procurement and mobilisation. |
| London Share of New-Build Pipeline | 60% | 111 live applications · 22,204 units · 55% of national units | London continues to carry the majority of the active new-build higher-risk building workload, although its share has reduced from the September snapshot as the national pipeline expanded. |
| Existing-Building Remediation — National | 87% | 96 approvals from 110 decisions · 8,649 units · 32-week median · 313 live cases | The national rate eased from 89% after four recent rejections, but the median improved from 33 to 32 weeks and the live caseload continued to reduce. |
| London Existing-Building Remediation | 96% | 52 approvals from 54 decisions · 4,643 units · 38-week median · 180 live cases | London retained its 96% approval rate and reduced its open remediation caseload. The higher rolling median continues to reflect the closure of older and more complex cases. |
| Remediation Live Pipeline | — | 313 national cases · 26,259 units · 180 London cases · 14,298 London units | The live remediation workload remains substantial but is moving down, supporting a continuing pipeline of façade, fire, structural, investigation and remedial-delivery work. |
| Legacy Remediation Cases | — | 7 outstanding 2024 applications · 6 in London · 1 outside London | The legacy backlog has reduced again from 12 cases in the September index and from 42 at the start of 2026. |
| HRB Internal Refurbishment Works | 85% | 158 approvals from 185 decisions · 1,109 live cases · 31-week median | Internal works remain the largest live Gateway 2 category and recorded one of the strongest month-on-month improvements, rising from 78% to 85%. Applications submitted in 2026 are progressing in around 21 weeks. |
| London HRB Internal Works | 88% | 123 approvals from 140 decisions · 749 live applications · 33-week median | London internal-work approvals now sit above the national rate and account for around 56% of Gateway 2 decisions in the capital. |
| NHS Applications — National | 81% | 21 approvals from 26 decisions · 20-week median · 32 active cases | The approval rate eased slightly from 82%, while the median improved from 22 to 20 weeks. Applications submitted in 2026 have a 17-week median. |
| London NHS Applications | 78% | 7 approvals from 9 decisions · 20-week median · 18 active cases | London's approval rate is unchanged, but its median improved materially from the 33-week position reported in the previous index. |
| Gateway 3 | 100% | 361 applications received · 9 determinations in latest period · 20-week median · 16-week quickest approval | The approval rate reached 100%, but throughput reduced again from 16 to nine determinations. No standard new-build project that passed Gateway 2 has yet reached Gateway 3. |
| Major Change Requests | — | 208 live · 142 closed · 7-week new-build median | Post-approval change remains a material construction-stage programme risk. Live major changes increased from 184 to 208 even as BSR closed more requests during the period. |
| BSR Resourcing | — | 181 internal staff · 491 external specialists · 62 integrated specialists | BSR has increased its internal regulatory team and is continuing to recruit while expanding integrated multidisciplinary capacity to manage demand. |
03LCM Index Reading
The October update is materially stronger than the September release. The overall Gateway 2 approval rate rose from 84% to 87%, but this time the percentage movement is supported by higher absolute throughput. BSR recorded 378 decisions and 330 approvals in the latest rolling period, compared with 340 decisions and 287 approvals in the previous index. Approved cases represent 20,471 residential units. The category-level picture is also stronger overall. New-build and conversion approvals increased from 92% to 96% nationally and from 90% to 97% in London. Internal refurbishment improved from 78% to 85% nationally and to 88% in London. Existing-building remediation remains strong, although the national approval rate eased from 89% to 87% after recent rejections; London held at 96%. NHS approvals slipped slightly from 82% to 81% nationally but determination times improved.
The main pressure point has shifted towards intake and live workload. BSR reports 1,706 Gateway 2 applications in progress, up from 1,654 in the previous index. New-build applications alone increased from 147 to 186, representing 40,644 residential units. September produced 64 new higher-risk building submissions compared with 34 in August, 17 in July and 12 in June as applicants moved ahead of the Building Safety Levy taking effect on 1 October. For delivery teams, the practical reading is therefore more positive but not risk-free: BSR is approving more applications and doing so at higher rates, yet it is simultaneously absorbing a higher live caseload, operating a triage process for the levy-related surge and managing more construction-stage major change requests.
04What Changed in the October BSR Update?
- Overall Gateway 2 approval performance increased from 84% to 87%.
- BSR recorded 378 decisions and 330 approvals, representing 20,471 residential units.
- The total live Gateway 2 caseload increased to 1,706 applications.
- New-build and conversion approvals reached 96% nationally, with 55 approvals from 57 decisions.
- London new-build approval performance reached 97%, with 36 approvals covering 6,855 residential units.
- The national new-build live pipeline increased to 186 applications representing 40,644 residential units.
- London represents around 60% of live new-build applications and 55% of new-build units under assessment.
- Existing-building remediation stood at 87% nationally and 96% in London.
- Only seven remediation applications dating from 2024 remain nationally, down from 12 in the previous index and 42 at the start of 2026.
- Internal refurbishment approval performance increased from 78% to 85% nationally and reached 88% in London.
- NHS approvals reached 81% nationally and remained at 78% in London, while approval times improved.
- Gateway 3 recorded a 100% approval rate, although only nine applications were determined during the latest rolling period.
- Live major change requests increased from 184 to 208, while 142 requests were closed during the period.
- September new-build submissions rose to 64, compared with 34 in August, 17 in July and 12 in June.
- BSR has activated additional second- and third-line assurance checks before invalidation or rejection and is applying triage and demand management to the higher intake.
- The Building Safety Levy came into force on 1 October 2026.
05New Build: 96% Nationally, 97% in London
BSR made 57 decisions on new higher-risk buildings and conversions during the latest rolling period. Fifty-five were approved and two rejected, producing a national approval rate of 96%. Approved schemes represent 11,822 residential units. The median approval time for non-complex cases is 23 weeks, one week higher than the previous release as BSR closed several older applications. Complex new-build cases are tracked separately. There are 30 live complex cases nationally with a 34-week median determination time.
London accounted for 37 of the 57 national new-build decisions. Thirty-six were approved and one rejected, producing a 97% approval rate and covering 6,855 residential units. The median determination time for non-complex London cases is 22 weeks. London is managing 19 of the 30 live complex cases, with a 35-week median. The capital currently has 111 new-build and conversion applications in progress, representing 22,204 residential units. That is around 60% of the national application pipeline and 55% of residential units under active assessment. Nationally, the live pipeline has increased to 186 applications representing 40,644 units.
06Construction-Stage Inspections Remain a Compliance Test
BSR's growing inspection programme continues to identify a small number of cases where construction work has not followed the design agreed at Gateway 2 and remedial work has been required. The regulator says it will maintain a robust position where appropriate to ensure that safe approved designs are translated into safe buildings.
This remains an important distinction for contractors and design teams. Gateway 2 approval is not the end of regulatory control: the approved design basis must be maintained through construction, and departures may trigger remediation, change-control requirements and programme consequences.
07Existing-Building Remediation: 87% Nationally and 96% in London
Existing-building remediation remains one of the strongest areas of BSR improvement despite a small reduction in the latest national approval percentage. BSR determined 110 remediation applications and approved 96, producing an 87% national approval rate and representing 8,649 residential units. The national live remediation workload has reduced to 313 cases representing 26,259 units. The rolling median approval time has reduced from 33 to 32 weeks. BSR says newer applications submitted during 2026 are progressing in approximately 22 weeks with high approval rates.
London performed more strongly. BSR made 54 remediation decisions in the capital and approved 52, producing a 96% approval rate and covering 4,643 residential units. The London live workload has reduced to 180 cases representing 14,298 units. Legacy remediation applications continue to fall. Only seven applications dating from 2024 remain nationally, including six in London and one outside the capital, down from 42 at the start of 2026. Older cases continue to influence rolling median determination times even as newer applications move faster.
08Internal Refurbishment Improves to 85% and Remains the Largest Gateway 2 Workload
HRB internal refurbishment Category A and B works remain the largest live Gateway 2 category. BSR currently has 1,109 applications in progress nationally. During the latest rolling period, 185 internal-work decisions were made. Of those, 158 were approved and 27 rejected, producing an 85% approval rate and a 31-week median determination time.
The approval rate has increased materially from 78% in the previous index. Applications submitted during 2026 are progressing in around 21 weeks. BSR says new internal-work applications have been received at an average rate of approximately 38 per week and that further capacity is being developed for the category.
London has 749 internal-work applications in progress. BSR made 140 decisions in the capital, approving 123 and rejecting 17, producing an 88% approval rate and a 33-week median. Internal works accounted for around 56% of Gateway 2 decisions in London during the rolling period.
09NHS Applications: Approval Time Improves to 20 Weeks
BSR made 26 determinations on NHS applications during the latest rolling period and approved 21, producing an 81% national approval rate. The national median determination time improved from 22 to 20 weeks. Applications submitted during 2026 have a 17-week median, and BSR reports that some recent healthcare applications have been determined within the statutory eight-week period. London recorded seven approvals from nine NHS determinations, producing a 78% approval rate. The median approval period in London improved to 20 weeks. BSR is managing 32 active NHS building-control cases nationally, including 18 in London.
10Gateway 3: 100% Approval Rate, but Only Nine Determinations
BSR has now received 361 Gateway 3 applications. Of these, 274 relate to internal refurbishment, while most of the remainder are transitional cases at 42 and NHS internal refurbishment applications at 27. During the latest 12-week period, BSR determined nine Gateway 3 applications, achieving a 100% approval rate with a 20-week median determination period. The quickest approval was completed in 16 weeks. Active in-progress cases stand at 122 for HRB internal works, 19 for NHS internal works and eight for external remediation, with the remediation cases representing 972 units.
No standard new-build development that passed through Gateway 2 has yet reached Gateway 3. The current Gateway 3 figures therefore remain an early indicator dominated by refurbishment and transitional work rather than a full benchmark for new higher-risk residential development. As more Gateway 2-approved buildings progress through construction, completion-stage evidence, approved change records and Golden Thread information will become increasingly important to occupation programmes.
11Major Change Requests Increase to 208 Live Cases
BSR is processing 208 live major change requests across projects already in construction.
| Category | Live Requests | Closed in Period | Median Closure Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| New HRBs and conversions | 85 | 72 | 7 weeks |
| External remediation | 25 | 32 | 19 weeks |
| HRB internal works | 71 | 33 | 25 weeks |
| NHS applications | 24 | 5 | 20 weeks |
| Transitional | 3 | 0 | — |
BSR closed 142 major change requests during the latest 12-week period. For new-build developments, the median closure time remains seven weeks, one week longer than the statutory target cited by the regulator. For project teams, this remains a significant construction-stage programme issue because Gateway 2 approval fixes an approved design basis while subsequent major changes still require appropriate regulatory control.
12Building Safety Levy Surge Triggers Triage and Extra Assurance
The October release confirms a substantial pre-levy increase in higher-risk building applications. September submissions rose to 64, compared with 34 in August, 17 in July and 12 in June. The Building Safety Levy came into force on 1 October 2026.
BSR says it anticipated the increase and activated contingency arrangements. Clearly sub-standard applications can still be rejected, but during the transitional period proposed invalidations and rejections are subject to additional second- and third-line assurance checks before a final decision is communicated. BSR says rejection will be used where there is no realistic path to approval within a reasonable period.
The regulator has also introduced triage and demand management because application volumes reached two to three times typical intake levels. For live projects, this means approval performance may continue improving while individual programme certainty still depends on application quality, complexity, regulator prioritisation and the timing of the submission within the enlarged queue.
13Regional Gateway 2 Distribution
BSR's October regional distribution chart shows London carrying 1,040 live Gateway 2 applications across the categories displayed, with 560 shown across the rest of England. Outside the capital, the largest regional totals are concentrated in the south-west, north-west and south-east.
LCM does not use the regional chart to calculate the headline national live caseload because the charted London and rest-of-England totals sum to 1,600, while the same BSR dataset separately reports 1,706 Gateway 2 applications in progress across all categories. The headline index therefore uses the category totals reported by BSR and treats the regional chart as a separate distribution snapshot.
14BSR Resourcing and Technical Capacity
BSR reports 181 internal staff members involved in higher-risk building control activity:
- 103regulatory leads
- 18principal regulatory leads
- 56case officers
- 3case officer managers
- 1administrative officer
The regulator is also supported by 491 people sourced or seconded from external organisations:
- 239Registered Building Inspectors
- 102fire-service professionals
- 116structural engineers
- 34other specialists
Of those external resources, 62 are integrated directly into the Innovation Unit or external-remediation teams: 34 Registered Building Inspectors, six fire-service professionals and 22 structural engineers. BSR says its internal regulatory team has grown by 25 people over the previous four months and that recruitment will continue over the next six to 12 months.
15Telecoms Rules Changed from 1 September 2026
A standing operational change introduced in the previous index remains relevant for certain telecommunications work in higher-risk buildings. From 1 September 2026, eligible fibre-optic cabling and rooftop telecommunications mast work can proceed without prior notification to, or approval from, BSR before work starts.
For eligible fibre-optic cabling, dutyholders are required to notify BSR after the work is completed. Eligible rooftop mast installations require a completion certificate application. This should not be interpreted as a general relaxation of Gateway 2. The change applies to defined telecommunications work, while core dutyholder, competence, building-regulation and safety requirements remain in force.
16Evidence-Based Summary
- BSR recorded 378 decisions and 330 approvals, lifting the overall approval rate from 84% to 87% and clearing 20,471 residential units.
- New-build performance reached 96% nationally and 97% in London, with the live new-build pipeline increasing to 186 applications and 40,644 residential units.
- Remediation remained strong at 87% nationally and 96% in London, while the legacy 2024 backlog fell to seven applications.
- Internal refurbishment improved sharply to 85% nationally and 88% in London, but remains the largest active Gateway 2 workload.
- Gateway 3 reached a 100% approval rate but only nine applications were determined and no standard new-build project that passed Gateway 2 has yet reached the final Gateway 3 stage.
- The live Gateway 2 caseload has increased to 1,706 applications and BSR is simultaneously managing 208 major change requests during construction.
17Why This Index Matters
Gateway 2 approval performance affects more than regulatory administration. It influences development finance, procurement timing, contractor mobilisation, consultant workload, remediation sequencing and the release of construction packages on higher-risk buildings. London remains particularly exposed because around 60% of live new-build and conversion applications and 55% of new-build residential units currently under assessment sit in the capital.
The latest figures show that Gateway 2 is becoming more operationally mature, but they also show why a single approval percentage is not enough to judge the system. Decision throughput has improved at the same time as application intake has increased sharply. Complex cases remain slower, major change requests create a separate construction-stage approval burden and Gateway 3 is still too immature to benchmark standard new-build completions. The next test is whether BSR can sustain higher approval throughput while absorbing the post-levy workload without allowing a new backlog to build.
18Methodology
The Gateway 2 Approval Index uses publicly available Building Safety Regulator building control approval application data, BSR transparency releases, regulator media statements and London Construction Magazine analysis. The latest update uses BSR data published on 6 October 2026 covering July to September 2026, with the regulator stating that the data is current as of 5 October 2026.
The index tracks:
First, the headline page of the BSR PDF displays a 97% national new-build approval rate, while the detailed rolling 12-week table and BSR media release report 55 approvals from 57 decisions and state a 96% rate. LCM uses the detailed count and the regulator's media figure: 96%.
Second, BSR's regional distribution chart shows 1,040 live applications in London and 560 in the rest of England, a chart total of 1,600, while the same dataset separately reports 1,706 Gateway 2 applications in progress across all categories. LCM therefore uses 1,706 as the headline live caseload and does not use the regional chart to infer a national total.
The index does not provide legal, design, engineering or regulatory advice. It is an editorial intelligence tracker designed to interpret public approval data and explain operational consequences for the construction sector.
19Primary Sources
20Related LCM Analysis
21Next Update
This index will be updated when the Building Safety Regulator publishes its next Gateway 2 or Gateway 3 dataset, or when material changes affect approval performance, London case concentration, remediation throughput, internal works, NHS applications, commenced projects, major changes, resource capacity or live case pressure.