Building Safety Regulator now a standalone body

The Building Safety Regulator (Establishment of New Body and Transfer of Functions etc.) Regulations 2026 came into force on 27 January 2026; as a result, the Building Safety Regulator ("BSR") is no longer part of the Health and Safety Executive ("HSE") but a standalone, dedicated body sponsored by, and reporting to, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. 

The functions of the BSR were originally given to the HSE following the Grenfell Inquiry to allow quick mobilisation under an established organisation with experience of acting as a regulator. However, with the HSE being sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions and building safety being the responsibility of MHCLG, this made governance matters complex.

The move to a separate body is intended to provide clearer lines of oversight and direct accountability; hopefully this should also work toward alleviating the bottleneck of applications which has been plaguing the Gateway 2 process. The move can allow the BSR to better focus its resources and manpower to reduce applicant wait time and implement its recent operational overhaul.

Having a dedicated body for the BSR also lays further groundwork for the implementation of the Phase 2 Inquiry recommendation to establish a single construction regulator.

Lord Roe, Chair of the BSR, commented that:

Today is a decisive and important step in strengthening building safety and a milestone that marks our evolution into a standalone regulator… today is about looking forward to a single construction regulator that brings coherence to a once-fragmented system.

We expect to soon see more information about the BSR's further evolution into the single construction regulator, including the Construction White Paper on the regulation of construction products and a call for evidence for proposals on the regulation of high-risk building professionals - both planned for spring 2026.