England's Gateway regime: Delays and solutions

Seeking to prevent further fire safety issues, embodied by the Grenfell tragedy, the Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a new Gateway regime for higher risk buildings (HRBs), and you can find our detailed review of the legislation from the time it was introduced.

Unfortunately, the Gateway regime has had some unintended consequences, causing significant delays to HRB projects. In 2025, turnaround times for Gateway 2 reached approximately 33 weeks for remediation works, with the result that some projects in England fell 12 to 18 months behind schedule. 

This has caused problems both in terms of the government meeting its new homes targets and also the projects in question, with parties first needing to allocate responsibility for such delays in their contracts and then deal with disputes as and when those delays arose.

Feedback from those in the industry suggests that there have been two main causes of delay, being: 

1. the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) facing difficulties recruiting adequate levels of resource (both in terms of quality and quantity) to review the various applications; and
2. those making the applications lacking awareness, understanding, and reliable guidance in terms of demonstrating compliance.  

This was recognised by the government in its third progress report on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 recommendations, released on 17 December 2025 . With that in mind, in this article we focus on the current state of play, reviewing both recent developments and what 2026 might hold.  

The evolving landscape

Whilst understandably these delays remain a concern for many in the industry, the good news is that recent reports suggest that applications are starting to turn around within the prescribed 12-week period.

Further, following consultation with The Construction Leadership Council (CLC), the BSR is now accepting staged applications for all new HRBs at Gateway 2 for single tower new HRBs, based on separating groundwork and foundations from the subsequent construction of the building. Further, the CLC published on 18 December 2025 two new industry guidance notes on Staged Applications and key steps between Gateway 2 to Gateway 3 for Building Control for new HRBs, and whilst the impact of these changes is yet to be seen, this collaboration between the industry and the BSR is very welcome indeed.  

Certainty is also starting to arrive in terms of the statutory approach to HRBs. Whilst the Grenfell Phase 2 Report had recommended “that the definition of a higher-risk building for the purposes of the Building Safety Act be reviewed urgently”, on 17 December 2025 the government released a Policy Paper confirming that the definition of HRB will not change in the immediate future, stating that the height of a residential building is a direct correlation to fatality risk and that it would be challenging to use vulnerability as a criteria in legislation. 

However, the paper also confirmed that the BSR will conduct a yearly (at least) review of the definition of HRBs, so that the HRB regime can adapt to new and emerging evidence, considering e.g., fire safety, emerging risks in the built environment which are relevant to the spread of fire or structural safety and whether and how changes to the definition of HRB would improve protection to residents or users, particularly those who are vulnerable.

Further changes in 2026 and beyond

In December 2025, the government published the 'Single construction regulator prospectus: Consultation document', with a view to introducing a single construction regulator (as recommended by the Phase 2 Report), which also confirms amongst other things that the government:

1. intends to commission an independent review of the building safety regulatory regime by April 2027;
2. is committed to bringing forward a Construction Products Reform White Paper by Spring 2026; and
3. will publish an overarching strategy document for the built environment professions in Spring 2027, which will take account of input from the Fire Engineers Advisory Panel and responses to a call for evidence that will take place in Spring 2026.  

The government’s first annual report setting out its response to the Grenfell Phase 2 report, due in February 2026.  

There is also to be a consultation in 2026 to ensure the regime is proportionate for certain types of building work to existing buildings within the higher risk building regime while continuing to uphold essential building safety and quality standards. This is looking to address delays to works which pose limited fire safety risks but have to go through the full Gateway approval because they take place in HRBs (e.g., the installation of bathroom pods). We will provide more detailed guidance on this after the report is released.

Building Safety Levy

Finally, the draft Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025 have now been laid before Parliament, with the levy effective from 1 October 2026. The levy shall apply to all residential schemes in excess of 10 dwellings (or bedspaces PBSA or 30 student accommodation bedspaces) but there is a specific exemption for affordable housing developments, care homes and hospitals to avoid hindering essential community housing.  

Recent announcements from the government have suggested that reforms will be made to National Planning Policy Framework to potentially lead the way to exemptions from the Building Safety Levy for medium site developments (10-49 units). 

These changes will not affect schemes in Wales. For further information on the Building Safety Levy, please see our article on the levy and what developers need to know.