The Government’s stated aim to build 1.5m homes over the course of the next parliament is an ambitious one given the failure of successive previous governments to achieve far lower targets for housebuilding.
To realise this ambition, high-density, high-rise multi-occupied residential blocks will inevitably need to form a significant part of the proposed stock of new homes, particularly in and around urban conurbations.
However, while rightly seeking to ensure parties take responsibility for their roles in construction projects, the industry is facing frustrations with the resourcing and capacity of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) – the regulatory body for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) – which is inevitably slowing down HRB projects and will have a knock-on effect for hitting government housing targets if not resolved quickly.
Navigating the three gateways to building safety
April 2023 saw the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022). This legislation has brought significant changes across wide-ranging areas of building safety in direct response to the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. This includes a sea change in procedural requirements for obtaining building regulations approval in relation to HRBs.
Buildings classified as HRBs under the BSA 2022 – i.e., those over 18m or at least 7 storeys in height, and containing two or more residential units – are now required to pass through the gateway process outlined in the BSA to achieve building control sign off. This process is markedly different and significantly more onerous than the previous building control regime and is administered by the recently created BSR, requiring input from professionals with various required skill sets.
The three gateways provide for hard stops at the key points of a project involving a HRB to ensure compliance at each stage. Gateway one covers land use planning matters, gateway two is the building control approval application stage and the third and final stage of the gateway process is the application for a building regulations completion certificate before occupation can occur. For all three stages, required information must be submitted to the BSR and the project cannot proceed any further until approval has been achieved at each gateway.
Gateway two: is the system overwhelmed?
While the gateway process has been implemented in a way to simplify and add consistency to building safety for HRBs, it’s evident that gateway two is causing the most head scratching within the industry. Much has been written on the problems being encountered with gateway two on new developments, particularly around the impacts on the design and build model, and the level and format of information required.
However, this gateway is the one which also has the greatest impact on existing buildings. Refurbishment – and even maintenance to existing HRBs – can easily trigger the gateway process, which could be missed by those carrying out the works which risks non-compliance. As such, it is essential for accountable persons to seek professional advice at an early stage before embarking on works which may impact the fire safety or structure of an existing building; or impact the building’s compliance with any part of the building regulations.
From the replacement of flat entrance doors in HRBs, to the renewal of external cladding; with the sheer variety of works which require approval at gateway two, it is unsurprising that the BSR is finding itself overwhelmed despite the best intentions of the process.
2025 review and reform needed to hit government housing targets
The recent admission by the BSR that their “assumptions and modelling” had “not survived first contact with reality” outlines the scale of the frustrations for the BSR and those applying to it. It is a commendable acknowledgement by the BSR of the challenges it faces, no small part of which stems from the perceived lack of guidance around the required form and content required of the applications.
Whilst the aims of the safety reforms enacted over recent years should absolutely be pursued, there is an acknowledged shortage of the required appropriately qualified professionals available to act on these developments; with, by their own admission, application processing times significantly exceeding the targets outlined by the BSR and the ‘hard stops’ enacted by the gateway process. As a result, developers’ budgets and cash flow are likely to be materially affected, ultimately making development more expensive and time-consuming – at least until the new regime becomes settled and fully embedded within the industry and sufficient allowances for it are made at the outset.
Changes on the horizon
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has already reached out to members of the Building Safety Fund and Cladding Safety Scheme to stress that remediation works must start on site as soon as possible this year – by the end of March 2025 latest for buildings with Aluminium Composite Material cladding. Additionally, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published the Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP) in December 2024 which introduces new measures to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding. As a joint plan between developers and the Government, the RAP outlines new measures to speed up the remediation of 18m+ (high-rise) and 11m+ buildings, hold rogue freeholders to account and provide relief to long-suffering residents.
However, the RAP also recognises the frustrations and challenges the BSR is facing, with the Government committing to work with developers to unblock barriers to remediation including working with the BSR to minimise unnecessary delays to the gateway process without compromising on regulatory oversight. It also pledges to establish a Remediation Action Group which will consider tougher enforcement against third parties unreasonably blocking remediation.
This is welcomed news for the industry given the current delays, plus further change is on the horizon by way of the recent announcement that the BSR will be undertaking a ‘fundamental review’ of the building regulations guidance early this year, bringing further focus to driving better changes for building safety. It is unclear what form these changes will take, but one item born out of the Grenfell Inquiry is the assertion that the definition of what constitutes as a HRB may be reviewed, with the height threshold of 18m considered as an arbitrary measure. If the definition of a HRB is extended, it is inevitable that further pressure will be put on the workload of the BSR.
While the changes to the recently amended National Planning Policy Framework will be touted as an enabler for streamlining the early stages of new developments, the requirement for any proposed works to build, alter or upgrade HRBs to pass through the gateway process for building control will require an appropriately resourced BSR to realise the construction of many new homes. This will require further targeted central investment which, if not forthcoming, may hinder the ability of the Government to deliver its ambitious homebuilding target.