The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is under growing pressure to modernise its systems and reduce delays, with its chairman warning that confidence in the body could collapse if progress is not made by year-end.
Speaking to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee yesterday [2 September], Andy Roe, the newly appointed non-executive chairman and former fire chief, admitted the regulator’s internal systems are “not viable,” with staff still manually handling cases due to a lack of digital infrastructure.
This “unnecessary bureaucracy,” he said, is hampering efficiency and diverting focus from safety.
Some applications are taking up to 50 weeks to approve.
To address this, BSR is moving from a franchised model to a centralised team of 15 in-house registered building inspectors (RBIs) by the end of September and exploring the use of AI to assess cases earlier.
The regulator has committed to clearing the current backlog of 154 Gateway 2 applications – representing 29,000 homes – by year-end.
Achieving this is “absolutely achievable,” said Roe, but failure could lead to a “complete loss of confidence” in the body.
He has pledged to step aside if internal milestones are not met.
Meeting the 12-week service level agreement (SLA) is a key part of the plan, with a greater focus on earlier decisions to avoid last-minute “cliff edge” refusals that frustrate developers.
Delays are already threatening tens of thousands of homes and are seen as a significant obstacle to the government’s 1.5 million homes target.
Some developers are reportedly redesigning projects to avoid the BSR’s remit altogether.
While the government’s plan to recruit 100 new staff has been broadly welcomed, calls have been made for more technical specialists, clearer communication, and a more proportionate regulatory approach.
Currently part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) the BSR is set to become an independent arms-length body by 2026.
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