The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has confirmed it has cut down the backlog of gateway 2 legacy cases to just three applications, with 18 transferred to a separate complex case category.
In its latest update, the BSR said the 18 long-term cases had significant technical challenges and would now be taken on by account managers who will work with applicants to progress these applications to a “successful outcome”.
The BSR also revealed 108 new-build gateway 2 applications were determined in the 12 weeks to 25 February, with 82 new applications received.
New applications during the period account for 15,178 homes, with the number of determined applications representing 23,197 units, of which 10,514 were approved. There are currently 31,191 units in live cases.
The regulator also confirmed its remediation improvement plans would be unveiled over the coming weeks. These plans will focus on strengthening the BSR’s resource capacity, improving its internal processes and providing support so the industry can submit higher-quality applications.
The update comes after the regulator’s recent transition to a standalone body, moving away from the Health and Safety Executive.
Acting chief executive Charlie Pugsley said the BSR continued to see “improvements to the numbers of decisions being made for new-build applications, and the numbers of safe homes being made available for the future”.
“We also continue to engage even more closely with applicants to help improve the quality of those applications and that continues to see tangible results that will make a real difference,” he added.
“However, we recognise that current determination times are falling short of our targets for remediation. Our remediation improvement plan, which will be formally announced and rolled out operationally over the coming weeks, will represent a targeted package of focused measures to reset the system.”
Last month, a freedom-of-information request made by law firm Irwin Mitchell revealed there were 5,600 legacy homes which had been waiting for gateway 3 decisions for three months or more.
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