In this quarterly update, we aim to summarise the latest publications and round up developments in Building Safety news since our June 2025 update.
1. Update to the Remediation Acceleration Plan: Additional measures
The government pledged to accelerate the pace of remediation of building safety defects in the Remediation Acceleration Plan ("RAP") published in December 2024. The RAP promised an update in summer 2025 which has now been published. The 17 July 2025 update states that significant progress has been made but sets out a range of additional measures to accelerate progress. These plans include:
- Giving social landlords equal access to remediation funding, supported by a joint plan between government, social landlords and regulators to expedite works
- Introducing a Remediation Bill, creating a legal duty to remediate with fixed timescales and criminal penalties for non-compliance and giving new Remediation Backstop powers to local authorities and Homes England
- Tightening fire assessment standards to minimise delays to remediation start dates and provide certainty on the scope of works
- Supporting the delivery of local remediation acceleration plans to enhance collaborative working and expertise at regional levels
- Establishing a National Remediation System to serve as the single source of data for all relevant buildings over 11 metres
These measures reflect a shift from encouragement to enforcement.
2. Building Safety Levy
Draft regulations and guidance was published on 10 July 2025 explaining the Building Safety Levy. This is a tax on new residential buildings which will be collected by local authorities from 1 October 2026.
The Building Safety Levy is a charge that developers will be required to pay on certain building control applications / notices before completion of the building work or occupation of the building (whichever is earlier). The levy is also to be charged on certain applications for works that result in new dwellings and/or new bedspaces in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and change of use to residential purposes.
3. Guidance issued by the Building Safety Regulator
The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a "gateway" procedure for higher-risk buildings designed to ensure that building safety risks are properly managed throughout the design, construction, and occupation phases. The introduction of these procedures have had unintended consequences, with the industry as whole experiencing delay due to the time take to review and high rejection rates at gateway 2. The latest data released by the Building Safety Regulator ("BSR") indicates that it is taking on average 36 weeks to get gateway 2 sign-off on new-builds while the official timeframe is supposed to be 12 weeks.
The BSR is actively working to address these issues and improve the application process. Reforms to the Regular were announced by the Housing Minister on 30 June 2025. On 21 July 2025, the Construction Leadership Council in conjunction with the BSR and industry stakeholders published a suite of guidance on gateway 2 applications. The government has also promised to continue publishing quarterly performance data for the BSR.
4. Updated fire door guidance
On 8 August 2025 the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: fire doors guidance on how to conduct routine checks on fire doors and provide information to residents was updated. Various amendments were made, including calcification on strips and seals.
5. Building Safety Fund has closed
On 1 September 2025 the government updated its guidance to confirm that the Building Safety Fund (the fund accessible for buildings over 18m) has closed to new applications with all 11m+ buildings in England being remediated through the Cladding Safety Scheme ("CSS"). As of 1 September 2025, the CSS has become the single scheme for remediating all 11m+ buildings in England (including those in London). The scheme has the same aims as the BSF..
DAC Beachcroft has a dedicated building safety team with extensive experience advising all stakeholders on how best to prepare for, manage and mitigate the implications of the Building Safety Act and associated legislation. As well as proactive advice on how the legislation affects commercial interests, we help our clients navigate the risks in procurement and contract management, legacy claims, extended exposures under the Act, construction products, commercial disputes and insurance issues. We also offer bespoke training on how the Building Safety Act impacts across the industry.
