BSR Becomes Standalone Body in Landmark Step Towards Single Construction Regulator

The Building Safety Regulator will put residents at the heart of everything it does and promote higher standards and culture change in the built environment.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has today moved to a standalone organisation, paving the way for the creation of a single construction regulator – a key recommendation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

The move of BSR from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to an arm’s-length body under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, represents a significant moment for the built environment.

Single Construction Regulator

Originally established in 2021 in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, BSR’s full powers came into force under the Building Safety Act 2022.  BSR says the transition signals a “renewed commitment to putting residents at the heart of everything BSR does”.

BSR will be promoting competence and higher standards, aiming to drive the culture change required in the built environment. It also oversees the remediation of high-risk buildings with unsafe cladding.

The move marks an ‘operational reset’ in BSR’s role as the building control authority for higher-risk buildings. Part of this includes an Innovation Unit and new efficiency measures.

Lord Roe, Chair of BSR, said: “Today is a decisive and important step in strengthening building safety and a milestone that marks our evolution into a standalone regulator. While the creation of BSR in 2021 was a watershed moment, today is about looking forward to a single construction regulator that brings coherence to a once-fragmented system.

“We will know we are successful when residents acknowledge we have made the built environment safer.

“Today is about continuing to support homes being built safely while fulfilling our primary mission: ensuring we are all building better and living safer, together.”

Planning Decisions

Criticised for stalling planning decisions, BSR has focused on improving the speed at which it processes Gateway 2 applications for high-risk buildings.

Publishing its latest results yesterday, BSR reports 698 decisions completed across all application types since 3 November 2025. The number of live applications of all categories is 1,159.

This follows 2025’s final quarter which saw the highest number of decisions (673) since BSR commenced operations.

High-rise applications are concentrated in London, with 68% of all decisions across all Gateway 2 categories related to cases located in the capital, with 476 made in the city over the past 12 weeks and 99 new applications received in the past 12 weeks. New build applications represented 19,600 residential units were received.

There are currently 37,065 units in live cases.

Since November, 52 decisions have been made on outstanding legacy cases inherited under the previous model with 29 of them in London.

BSR is currently assessing whether the remaining 29 complex legacy cases warrant continued resources, or if they should be rejected to allow for new submissions.

BSR’s Innovation Unit (IU) has made 39 decisions, with 27 in London, during the past 12 weeks and is managing 111 new build applications.

The Unit is actively looking at further ways to support applicants during the submission process in addition to published guidance, with a focus on reducing invalidations (applications lacking basic detail) while improving approval rates for safe applications.

Remediation cases are holding steady with an average of 34 weeks to consider cases. However, to address challenges with application quality and resource efficiency, a Remediation Improvement Plan is due to be launched in the next 2-3 weeks.

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