Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Building Safety Regulator

Monday 23 February 2026 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 4 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Building Safety Regulator became an arm's length body under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 27 January.
  • Performance data for the Building Safety Regulator is published monthly, ensuring transparency in its operations.
  • BSR has established a dedicated external remediation team to address delays experienced by applicants.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Darren Paffey Lab Southampton Itchen
Housing Local Government
Context

The Building Safety Regulator's performance has been under scrutiny due to delays in approving new builds and remediation plans, affecting construction projects and residents' safety.

Question

What progress his Department has made on reforming the Building Safety Regulator?

Answer from Samantha Dixon

On 27 January, the Building Safety Regulator became an arm's length body under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This was a major step towards creating a single construction regulator. The BSR continues to make strong progress on overhauling its operating model.

Answered
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Q2 Sarah Olney Lib Dem Richmond Park
Housing
Context

The Mayor of London's target for building new homes in London is not being met due to delays caused by the Building Safety Regulator, impacting investment and employment.

Question

Does the Minister agree that ensuring that the regulator operates efficiently is paramount if we are to deliver on housing targets and support the UK housing sector?

Answer from Samantha Dixon

The Government recognised last summer that the Building Safety Regulator needed to be reformed and brought in new leadership, and there has been a marked improvement in performance. Performance data is published monthly, so there is transparency on how the Building Safety Regulator is performing.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not explicitly agree with the questioner's statement about importance of efficiency for housing targets

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Q3 Darren Paffey Lab Southampton Itchen
Housing Local Government
Context

Residents of Sundowner Court in Southampton have been displaced for over a year due to serious fire safety issues, and the Building Safety Regulator's delays are exacerbating their hardship.

Question

What improvements can the Minister promise that this Government will make to speed up those approvals and end the misery for my residents?

Answer from Samantha Dixon

MHCLG and the Building Safety Regulator accept that many applicants have experienced delays, and we recognise that having to wait 40 weeks for decisions is unacceptable. That is why the BSR has established a dedicated external remediation team.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not make specific promises about improving approval times or alleviating resident suffering beyond acknowledging delays are unacceptable

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Q4 Gareth Bacon Con Orpington
Housing
Context

In London, the Building Safety Regulator's performance has led to a significant drop in new-build applications and a high percentage of invalid or rejected decisions, hindering house building.

Question

When announcing reforms to the Building Safety Regulator last June, the Secretary of State's Department promised to enhance the review of newbuild applications, unblock delays and boost sector confidence. But in London, where demand is highest, house building has fallen to its lowest level since 2009.

Answer from Samantha Dixon

In the last 12 weeks, 11,962 new-build homes have been approved, allowing construction to start. The BSR is moving forward. We will continue to press it to do better.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not address why reforms have not improved the situation in London beyond noting recent approvals

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Q5 Gareth Bacon Con Orpington
Housing Local Government
Context

The Building Safety Regulator's performance in London is hindering house building despite claims of improvements.

Question

With all due respect, the Government need to do an awful lot better than that. They hide behind the claim that there is a clear downward trend in live gateway 2 applications, but the reality, according to the Government's own statistics across all categories, is that the number of live applications in London has fallen by a mere 6% in the last 12 weeks.

Answer from Samantha Dixon

Performance continues to improve steadily across gateway 2, and decisions are being made increasingly quickly and at higher volumes. We will continue to press the BSR to do better, faster.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not admit hindering building or supporting Sadiq Khan's efforts beyond stating performance improvement is a priority

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