The Building Engineering Services Association has publicly praised the new team at the Building Safety Regulator for ‘renewed urgency’ in safety
The new BSR regime has made rapid progress in improving the planning process, say the BESA.
However, they also say the new chair of the BSR, Andy Roe, must now shift focus to remediation projects.
New BSR regime has pledged to clear Gateway 2 applications
Earlier this month, the BSR announced intentions to clear the backlog of Gateway 2 applications, and clear 91 legacy applications by the end of January 2026.
The 91 legacy applications are a part of a total 152 applications. This represents 21,745 units out of the total 33,670.
The BSR also currently has 253 applications for remediation of existing buildings, accounting for 22,304 units at the Gateway 2 stage.
BESA director of specialist knowledge, Rachel Davidson, said: “The renewed sense of urgency at the BSR is palpable. This is so important because it is crucial that the industry can have confidence in the process.
“Andy Roe and his team have brought in some innovative changes which appear to be bearing fruit already. Clearing the backlog of the most significant projects will help the whole sector by getting money flowing back into construction and freeing up resources so more projects can move forward.
“Clearly, the Regulator has to find a tricky balance between getting projects moving and ensuring safety standards are upheld. Also, remediation work is often technically and logistically challenging because of the constraints involved in improving existing buildings.
“It’s a tough one, but too many people are still living in unsafe conditions and this needs to be addressed urgently.”
Mounting delays undermine confidence
Last month, Emily Leonard, Emma Medina-Wallace, and Eleanor Folger of law firm Freeths, examined whether government reforms to the BSR will be enough to deliver on the 1.5m homes target.
They write: “Although long-awaited and widely supported given the circumstances of the Grenfell tragedy, the rollout of the building safety reforms has faced heavy criticism as delays continue to mount since the higher-risk building approval process was introduced.
“Most of these delays occur at Gateway 2, being the approval stage before construction can start. While there may be a target time stated for assessment of new higher risk buildings of 12 weeks (and for existing higher-risk buildings of eight weeks), it is well known and reported that there have been significant delays by the BSR in processing Gateway 2 applications.
“In addition, a significant amount of applications have been rejected due to missing key information, suggesting that more needs to be done to ensure that the requirements are clear to applicants.
“Since Gateway 2 clearance is required before construction of high-rise residential buildings can commence, this bottleneck has stalled the progress of numerous housing projects. Given the UK government’s recent pledge to build 1.5m homes by 2029, these delays come at a critical juncture.”
The post BESA praises new BSR regime for fast progress appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
