The Building Safety Act is contributing to the slowdown in housebuilding, and the government should set up an expert working group to brainstorm cutting delays, says Justin Kenny.
The Building Safety Act 2022 represents the most significant reform to building safety in a generation. Following the Grenfell Tower catastrophe, these measures strengthen public safety, restore trust in the construction sector, and introduce new legal accountability through the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), defined duty holders, and a mandatory ‘design then build’ process for all higher-risk buildings (HRBs).
While these reforms are essential, the absence of a unified process for gateway approvals and information management is creating delays and inefficiencies.
In the year to June, only 221,000 housing units received planning permission in England, the lowest figure for more than a decade, and down 9% on 2023/4.
And there is a slowdown in housing delivery: only 184,390 homes were completed in 2024, the lowest since 2015.
Planning delays are hindering the UK’s largest contractors and developers and preventing them from implementing at pace the government’s ambitious target of 300,000 new homes per year.
The Building Safety Act is a major contributor to this slowdown. The new gateway system for HRBs – while crucial for public safety – is significantly under-resourced, resulting in extremely low approval rates and extended delays. It is discouraging new developments, especially in London and other cities, leading to land banking, project deferrals and reduced investor confidence.
The figures speak for themselves:
- Between October 2023 and September 2024, the BSR received 1,018 Gateway 2 applications for HRBs, but approved only 146 (a 14% approval rate).
- From Oct 2023 to March 2025, 2,108 Gateway 2 applications were submitted, of which only 338 were approved.
- At least 1,210 completed homes across the UK are unoccupied because developers cannot secure BSR sign-off.
A process designed for safety but unsuitable for scale
Under the Building Safety Act, duty holders must demonstrate fully coordinated and compliant designs before construction (Gateway 2) and provide fully verified as-built information prior to occupation (Gateway 3). These are necessary safeguards, but the current process is still largely manual, document-heavy and disconnected with a rapidly growing backlog, which is now taking up to 36 weeks to clear.
Action is needed to:
- Simplify early-stage submissions, which are excessively detailed;
- Streamline large, unstructured uploads that are difficult for regulators to assess;
- Standardise the feedback to eliminate repeat resubmissions;
- Introduce a workflow/audit trail mechanism;
- Properly staff regulatory teams and implement a customer-facing response service; and
- Require the regulator to provide advice on compliance with the building regulations.
The solution is the creation of a short-life working group involving the Local Government Association and the housebuilding industry. The group would aim to cut weeks off the process, with fewer resubmissions and faster approvals, ultimately reducing the cost of building new homes. Critics of the current system include major housebuilders Barratt, Redrow, Berkeley, Ballymore and Keepmoat, so there is no shortage of expert advice on offer.
Justin Kenny was Homes England’s manager for the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme and held senior roles in the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. He is currently global lead for client development and strategy at Asite.
