Signs that Gateway 2 approvals process is beginning to speed up, HG Construction says

HG Construction has said it is seeing signs that the approvals process required by the Building Safety Act is beginning to speed up.

Christopher Benham, chairman of the Hertfordshire contractor, which specialises in high-rise housing and student accommodation work for clients including Argent Related and Clarion, said in a note accompanying its 2025 results: “While the regulatory impact of the Building Safety Act will take a while yet to settle and streamline, we are already embracing far better structure, pace, and control in both design and delivery, with the benefits of greater visibility, quality, and cost certainty for all.”

HG said revenue last year stayed flat at £387m but added that it had expected turnover to be similar to the previous year.

Benham said: “As the Building Safety Act became fully effective, a slower year was anticipated as our industry adapted and the predicted delays became evident. With foresight of this regulatory impact, our expectations were conservative.”

But he said it had won eight Gateway 2 approvals during the year and added: “HG’s workload and pipeline are the highest they have ever been and our projected turnover currently sits close to £500m.”

Despite income staying flat, pre-tax profit was up 56% to £15m with year-end cash rising from £34m to £42m.

Earlier this year, HG recruited architect Ronan Farrell from Tide Construction, where he was head of design, to the role of design director.

Benham said Farrell’s brief included “improving design efficiencies and standards across the group and for supporting the enhanced design coordination requirements of both the Gateway 2 submission and Gateway 3 completion processes”.

Benham added: “The board is monitoring BSR capacity and guidance in this area closely, as Gateway 3 volumes are expected to rise as the schemes approved in 2025 move towards completion.”

Last week, the Building Safety Regulator said it was making inroads into clearing the approvals backlog and the amount of time it takes to green light Gateway 2 applications.

Its acting chief executive Charlie Pugsley said it was seeing “positive results from our Innovation Unit from working closely with applicants to resolve complex technical challenges and then seeing a growing number of decisions and rising approval rates”.

“We are also making important improvements following the recent introduction of our external remediation improvement plan.”

But contractors continue to face delays and McAleer & Rushe, another residential specialist, said last week that turnover in 2026 will be down 8% from last year’s record of £628m, blaming hold-ups caused by the Gateway 2 approvals process.

Earlier this year, McLaren said it needed to see “more evidence” that Gateway 2 decisions were being made within the regulator’s aim of 12 weeks.

Chief executive Paul Heather said its jobs were still typically taking 20-something weeks to get the Gateway 2 green light but added: “We are seeing a speeding up across the board. It’s coming in but ideally we’d like it to be 12 weeks.”