House of Lords investigates Safety Regulator delays

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee, chaired by Baroness Taylor of Bolton, has launched an inquiry into building safety regulation with a particular focus on concerns raised by some in the housing sector that delays in approvals by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) have slowed delivery of new homes.

The BSR has been set up within the Health and Safety Executive and is responsible for setting standards for the design and construction of higher-risk buildings. Higher-risk buildings have been defined as buildings that are at least 18 metres in height or have at least seven storeys and contain at least two residential units.

For lower-risk buildings, the BSR does not directly approve their construction but is responsible for regulating the building control bodies and inspectors that do hold this responsibility.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton, Chair of the Industry and Regulators Committee, said: “The safety of residents in higher-risk buildings was at the heart of the Building Safety Regulator being set up in 2022.

The Committee wants to hear from all stakeholders to find out if the BSR has the skills and resources required to ensure the safety of all buildings and its residents in the process of approving applications for high-rise buildings. This is crucial if the Government is going to achieve its manifesto target of building 1.5 million homes over the next Parliament.”

The Committee invites written contributions to its inquiry by Sunday 31 August 2025. The Committee will be holding public evidence sessions between June and September and aims to report to the House in the Autumn.

Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the Government commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to conduct an

Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety.

The Review’s final report, published in 2018, recommended the establishment of a new regulatory framework focused on higher-risk residential buildings, managed by a new regulator with responsibility for the whole of a building’s safety.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) was set up to act as this new regulator as part of the Building Safety Act 2022.