The Building Safety Regulator’s new regime headed by its new chairman retired fire chief Andy Roe is finally starting to break the logjam of stalled gateway 2 applications.

Fresh figures for October show 152 new build schemes, covering nearly 34,000 homes, now in the system, with a growing number progressing under the regulator’s new Innovation Unit model.

The specialist team, set up earlier this year, is meeting its 12-week service-level target on all current applications, with 27 active projects representing more than 6,000 homes.

Another 91 older legacy cases are being worked through. The regulator has now committed to clear most of these by the end of December, with the final 3 cases forecast to close in January 2026.

The BSR admits the old system has been hampered by technical bottlenecks, including a national shortage of computational fluid-dynamics experts to review complex fire strategies.

A bespoke closure plan has now been drawn up for each of the remaining cases to accelerate sign-offs.

London remains the busiest region, accounting for nearly half of all gateway 2 new build cases. Although closure rates there have lagged the national average, the regulator said additional inspectors and engineers have now been deployed to push them over the line before year end.

While new build approvals are picking up pace, there is still sluggish progress on remediation projects. More than 250 remediation applications, covering over 22,000 homes, are still waiting for clearance.

To tackle this, the BSR plans to create a new centralised Remediation Unit modelled on the Innovation Unit, backed by extra technical staff and closer process alignment with Homes England.

In a further shake-up, a batching system has been launched to send weekly bundles of new build and remediation cases to engineering services suppliers, starting with a 26-project package dispatched at the end of September. The approach aims to clear the current backlog and speed up future approvals.

Charlie Pugsley, Chief Executive Officer of the Building Safety Regulator, said: “The regulator has been learning from the last two years, has listened to industry feedback and acted decisively through these substantial operational changes we are piloting, which have shown immediate, positive results.

“We have already seen early success with our Innovation Unit and are now deploying strategic capacity scaling, including the new batching system.

“However, we recognise there are ongoing challenges including national skills shortages, and we are committed to use agile problem-solving to work constructively with the wider sector and industry applicants.

“Our focus on further improvements will support the pace of essential construction without compromising the essential safety standards required under the Building Safety Act 2022 to keep people safe in their homes.”