Building safety regulator’s overhaul efforts fail to address systemic approval delays and industry stagnation

Despite promises of streamlining the approvals process, the Building Safety Regulator’s reforms have fallen short, with lengthy delays, declining approval rates, and growing uncertainty threatening future housing projects across the UK.

The Building Safety Regulator’s latest efforts to overhaul the approvals process are nothing but window dressing for a system that remains deeply flawed and fundamentally broken. Despite the promises of batching applications and appointing dedicated account managers, the backlog of high-rise residential projects awaiting Gateway 2 sign-off continues to grow unabated. Firms face an appalling 43-week wait nationwide, with London hitting an unbearable 48 weeks—despite government assurances that the process would be streamlined to just 12 weeks. This delay is a testament to the regulator’s inability to deliver on its promises, hampering development, killing investment, and jeopardizing the nation’s housing needs.

The BSR’s plan to process applications in batches and deploy multi-disciplinary teams sounds promising in theory but falls dramatically short in practice. With over 156 new-build applications stalled and a mountain of remediation and refurbishment schemes waiting in limbo, it’s clear these token measures are little more than bandaids on a gaping wound. The regulator’s focus on slow-moving IT upgrades and staffing allocations like “up to 10 account managers” — most of whom will be based in London — barely scratch the surface of the systemic inefficiency that continues to choke new developments. The results speak volumes: approval rates have nose-dived from nearly 45% in 2023 to a meager 1.5% early this year, exposing a process so clogged that only a fraction of applications are approved, often well past statutory deadlines.

Meanwhile, the government’s attempts to introduce fast-track routes and expedited rejection protocols are superficial at best. Rapid rejection of deficient applications within days may look like progress but simply shifts the workload onto developers seeking to meet deadline targets—only to be met with barriers built on layers of bureaucratic incompetence. Banks and investors are already rethinking their commitments to new builds, with financing drying up amid the chaos—another casualty of the regulator’s failure to deliver a functioning, transparent approval system.

The latest announcement about technological upgrades and strategic batching is hardly enough to address the fundamental failure of the current system. What’s needed is a wholesale reform, not surface-level tweaks that fail to tackle the core issues. Instead of rushing to implement palliative measures, the government and the regulator should admit they have no real plan for delivering timely approvals, thus risking continued stagnation in housing development and the long-term sustainability of the sector. Far from building a safer future, their paralysis is building barriers—barriers that thwart progress and deny desperately needed homes to the people who need them most.

Source: Noah Wire Services

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score:
8

Notes:
The narrative is recent, published on 2 October 2025. While similar discussions about the Building Safety Regulator’s delays have occurred in the past, such as the 9-month wait for building safety sign-off reported on 11 July 2025 ([bdonline.co.uk](https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/nine-month-wait-to-get-building-safety-sign-off-for-new-builds-regulator-admits/5137040.article?utm_source=openai)), this specific announcement introduces new measures and is not a direct repetition of previous content. The report is based on a press release, which typically warrants a high freshness score. No significant discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were found. The narrative includes updated data, justifying a higher freshness score. No similar content appeared more than 7 days earlier.

Quotes check

Score:
10

Notes:
The direct quotes from BSR chair Andy Roe in the narrative are unique to this report. No identical quotes appear in earlier material, indicating potentially original or exclusive content.

Source reliability

Score:
9

Notes:
The narrative originates from Building Design Online, a reputable UK-based publication focusing on architecture and construction. This adds credibility to the information presented.

Plausability check

Score:
8

Notes:
The claims about the Building Safety Regulator’s efforts to speed up the approvals process align with ongoing industry discussions and previous reports on delays. The narrative provides specific details about the measures being implemented, such as batching applications and appointing account managers, which are plausible and consistent with the context. The tone and language are appropriate for the subject matter and region. No excessive or off-topic details are present, and the structure is coherent.

Overall assessment

Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH

Summary:
The narrative is recent, based on a press release, and presents unique quotes from a reputable source. The claims are plausible and consistent with ongoing industry discussions. No significant issues were identified, leading to a high confidence in the assessment.