House of Lords examines Building Safety Regulator delays and housing targets

Lords committee to report on Building Safety Regulator

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee will publish its report on the Building Safety Regulator on Thursday 11 December, setting out findings and recommendations on building safety regulation in England and Wales.

The report follows an inquiry into how the regime created by the Building Safety Act 2022 is operating, with a particular focus on the performance of the Building Safety Regulator.

According to the committee, the report is expected to warn the Government that delays in the regulator’s approval processes are leaving residents waiting longer for remediation of dangerous cladding in unsafe buildings.

The committee also expects to highlight that those delays are increasing costs for leaseholders who are already facing charges linked to fire-safety defects and remedial work.

Peers are further expected to caution that current bottlenecks in approvals could put at risk the Government’s target to deliver 1.5 million new homes by 2029.

The report will sit alongside draft secondary legislation and broader Government activity on building safety, including changes to the structure and role of the regulator.

Draft regulations to establish new Building Safety Regulator body

In parallel with the committee’s inquiry, draft regulations made under the Levelling up and Regeneration Act 2023 set out plans to establish the Building Safety Regulator as a new body corporate, separate from the Health and Safety Executive.

The draft Building Safety Regulator (Establishment of New Body and Transfer of Functions etc.) Regulations 2026 provide that the new body will come into force on 27 January 2026.

Under the draft regulations, the Building Safety Regulator will have a chair appointed by the Secretary of State, between three and eight other appointed members, and a chief executive selected by the members with the Secretary of State’s approval.

The new organisation will be able to appoint its own staff, pay remuneration and pensions, and receive grants or loans from the Secretary of State, subject to conditions.

It will have power to charge for giving advice, conducting research or providing other services, and may also borrow for short term financial management or from the Secretary of State.

The regulations transfer building safety functions under the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Building Act 1984 from the Health and Safety Executive to the new body, and update a range of primary and secondary legislation to reflect the change.

Transitional provisions state that anything done by or in relation to the Health and Safety Executive in connection with transferred functions will be treated as done by or in relation to the Building Safety Regulator once the transfer takes effect.

The draft regulations also allow the regulator, until the end of 2026, to delegate functions to Health and Safety Executive staff or to staff seconded from government departments.

An explanatory note to the draft instrument states that no regulatory impact assessment has been prepared because no, or no substantial, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is expected.

Podcast commentary on Building Safety Regulator performance and independence

Episode 51 of The Construction Briefing podcast from Practical Law Construction examined the Building Safety Regulator’s performance and the implications of its move to independence.

In the episode, presenters Michelle Rousell and Yassir Mahmood discuss the collapse of Assent Building Compliance and related firms, which had been involved in tens of thousands of projects and employed dozens of registered building control approvers.

They note that some transitional high risk building projects which had benefitted from earlier provisions will now fall under the Building Safety Regulator’s control, adding to its workload.

Mahmood said: “Because first, it puts more work the way of the BSR, and we know they know they’re already struggling.

“And secondly, it puts more work on the plates of the limited number of registered building control approvers, who are already in short supply.

“So even if we assume that the ones that were working for Assent (and its subsidiaries) will find employment somewhere else, that won’t be immediate so there’ll be a problem there.”

The podcast records wider industry frustration about delays, with Mahmood highlighting a previous description of the regulator as “The regulatory fatberg in the sclerotic property pipeline which needs a good old flush”.

Rousell notes that the Building Safety Regulator is already working through a backlog of gateway 2 applications under the new regime, and that the collapse of major building control providers is unlikely to help that position. I5ad1905eca2111f0a5f6fa0d299e95…

Mahmood added that the Government has laid draft regulations before Parliament to move the Building Safety Regulator out of the Health and Safety Executive and establish it as an independent body corporate from 27 January 2026, with the ability to delegate functions back to Health and Safety Executive staff until the end of that year.

He said: “It does remain to be seen how that transition goes.

“Hopefully that’s enough and with that proviso, the change will go smoothly.

“We’ll have to wait and see.”

Concerns over charges, timing and further change

The Construction Briefing episode also highlights a Government consultation on what the Building Safety Regulator and local authority building control can charge for their building regulations functions. I5ad1905eca2111f0a5f6fa0d299e95…

Mahmood noted that, while he had not yet read the consultation in detail, it is likely to result in higher costs for applicants using the regulator and local authority building control services.

Rousell comments that increased fees could be seen as a way to fund a better resourced building control process, but might be difficult for developers already paying for a service that is perceived as underperforming.

Mahmood said: “I think it’s always difficult in any business to start charging people more when you’re underperforming and you don’t have satisfied customers, even if you do have a kind of captive market like the BSR does.”

He added that the changes could be presented as part of a wider plan to improve the system, with applicants asked to accept higher costs in the short term. 5…

Rousell also raises the question of timing, asking whether the industry needs further structural change at a point when it is still adjusting to the post Grenfell regime and the new high risk building procedures.

Mahmood replied that frequent change creates disruption in itself and that, after early difficulties with the regime, there is uncertainty over whether the next phase will deliver an improved outcome.

Next steps for oversight, remediation and housing delivery

The Lords report on the Building Safety Regulator is due to be published shortly before the draft establishment regulations come into force, providing Parliamentary scrutiny of both performance and structure.

Its findings on delays to approvals for remediation of dangerous cladding are likely to be read alongside the regulator’s own work to clear existing backlogs in high risk building applications.

The report’s comments on the impact of approval delays on the 1.5 million homes by 2029 target will also be of interest to housing developers, local authorities and Government departments overseeing delivery.

The move to an independent Building Safety Regulator body, with powers and duties set out in secondary legislation, will change how building safety functions are organised and governed in England and Wales.

Transitional arrangements, including the ability to delegate to Health and Safety Executive staff until the end of 2026, are designed to maintain continuity while the new body is established.

The combination of structural change, a forthcoming Lords report and ongoing consultations on building control charges means stakeholders will have several related developments to track over the coming year.

Practical implications for building control and safety work

Developers, building owners and leaseholder representatives will be directly affected by any findings that Building Safety Regulator approval delays are slowing cladding remediation or new housing projects.

Fire engineering consultants, architects and building services engineers working on high risk residential buildings will need to plan for the regulator’s current workload and any procedural changes arising from the Lords report and new regulations.

System installers, fire-protection contractors and electrical contractors may see project timetables adjusted if approval processes remain slow during the transition to an independent Building Safety Regulator body.

Local authority building control teams and private registered building control approvers will need to consider how the regulator’s structural change, additional workload and any new charging arrangements will interact with their own capacity.

Government departments and housing delivery agencies will have to align housing targets, remediation schemes and funding programmes with any revised expectations on approval timescales and regulatory resource.