Building Safety Regulator

The Building Safety Regulator has appointed Gill Kernick as the voluntary independent chair of its statutory Residents’ Panel. Kernick, a former Grenfell Tower resident and specialist in safety culture and systemic change, will lead the panel in advising the regulator and holding it to account. The panel is intended to ensure residents’ experiences inform the regulation of higher-risk buildings and the wider building safety regime.

The Building Safety Regulator reports performance data for building control approval applications from May to July 2026, covering new higher-risk buildings and conversions, external remediation, internal works and NHS applications. Nationally, approval rates were 91% for new buildings, 85% for remediation, 77% for internal works and 84% for NHS applications. Median approval times were 22, 34, 32 and 24 weeks respectively, although applications submitted in 2026 were generally processed faster. There were 1,547 Gateway 2 applications in progress as of 27 July, including 69 transitional cases. London accounted for a large share of cases, particularly new-build and internal-works applications. The regulator also reported expanded staffing and external expertise, 181 live major change requests during construction, and 127 Gateway 3 applications in progress. It expects additional resources and improved processes to reduce determination times, especially for new-build projects.