New-build Gateway 2 applications rose sharply in the months before the Building Safety Levy began on 1 October 2026, while the live caseload continued to grow. Construction Enquirer reported 64 new-build submissions in September, compared with 34 in August and 17 in July. The timing supports a deadline-related incentive, but the figures do not prove that the levy caused the increase.
What the reported figures show
Construction Enquirer reported on 8 October that the live Gateway 2 caseload had risen by 34 to 1,706 applications. That total included 186 new-build and conversion cases. The two numbers describe different measures: 1,706 is the reported total across live Gateway 2 applications, while 186 is the new-build and conversion subset.
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The report also estimated that projects covering more than 40,000 homes were awaiting decisions, and said new-build applications were arriving at twice the rate at which the regulator was determining them. These operating figures are attributed to Construction Enquirer; the underlying monthly Building Safety Regulator (BSR) performance release is not available here for independent verification.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhy the levy deadline mattered
The Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025 came into force on 1 October 2026 and apply in relation to England. Under the regulations, building-control applications made before commencement fall outside the levy rules. The Building Safety Levy (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026 also took effect on 1 October.
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That transition gives developers a potential reason to submit applications before the start date. It does not establish that avoiding the levy caused September’s rise: the explanation that developers were racing to beat the levy is Construction Enquirer’s account of the trend, not a demonstrated causal finding.
Gateway 2 is the building-control application stage before building work starts, as described in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s levy consultation. That 2021 consultation discussed the possibility of developers bringing work forward to avoid a levy, but it is historical policy analysis—not evidence of what drove the 2026 application figures.
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Decision times differ by case type
Construction Enquirer said BSR approved 55 of 57 new-build decisions in the latest 12-week reporting window. It reported a 23-week median approval time overall, compared with 22 weeks in the preceding monthly comparison, and a 34-week median for complex applications. These are different measures and should not be treated as a guaranteed timeline for an individual project. The report attributed the increase in the overall median to older cases being cleared.
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Other categories show why the total caseload alone does not describe the regulator’s workload:
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- Internal refurbishment: Construction Enquirer reported 1,109 live applications, the largest category by volume.
- External remediation: The report said decisions outnumbered new applications. Seven cases dating from 2024 remained open, compared with 42 at the start of the year.
- Gateway 3: The report said nine applications were determined in the latest 12 weeks, at a median of 20 weeks. It also said no new-build project that had passed through Gateway 2 had yet reached Gateway 3.
Reported BSR staffing and application measures
Construction Enquirer reported that BSR had added 25 people to its internal regulatory team over four months and planned further recruitment over the next six to 12 months. It also reported forecast integrated building-inspector capacity of 22.4 full-time-equivalent posts at the end of September and 34 in December. Those figures and the reported contingency plans, application triage and additional scrutiny before an application is invalidated or rejected have not been independently confirmed here against a BSR primary release.
The report attributed two statements to BSR as an institution, without identifying an individual speaker: “We will engage with applicants on an individual basis to discuss timelines for their projects.” It also quoted BSR as saying: “We will only reject applications where there is no realistic prospect of approval within a reasonable timeframe.”
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Construction Enquirer further reported that BSR expects new processes and added resources to reduce determination times. That is a stated expectation, not evidence that the reported recruitment or process changes have already shortened waits.
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What developers can take from the figures
The reported rise in submissions coincided with the levy’s commencement date, and the regulations make the pre-commencement application date relevant to whether the levy rules apply. But a deadline-driven incentive is not proof of causation, and the reported queues and median times vary by application type and complexity. The available figures therefore describe pressure across several distinct stages; they do not establish a single waiting time for every Gateway 2 applicant or predict how quickly the backlog will clear.
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