Around three-quarters of applications still being rejected
The deputy head of the Building Safety Regulator has blamed a lack of industry design expertise for contributing to ‘Gateway 2’ delays, with 75% of applications being rejected because of missing or incomplete information.
Tim Galloway, Deputy Director of the Building Safety Regime Development and Regulatory Support at the Health & Safety Executive, has admitted that he “underestimated” how hard the transition would be for firms, and that he assumed demonstrating fire and structural safety in buildings above 18 metres would be “something that [industry firms] would already be able to do”.
Accepted applications are also being delayed due to a lack of technical capacity within the regulator’s outsourcing model.
Around 40% of Gateway 2 applications are being rejected due to a failure to meet requirements, with another 35% turned away because they are missing key information.
Ombudsman uncovers poor communication
The Housing Ombudsman has released its monthly ‘learning from severe maladministration’ report, with a renewed focus on effective communication between landlords and residents.
The focus follows examples of serious failings in responding to complaints about damp and mould, with one resident for whom English is not her first language being left in damp and mould for four years due to the language barrier.
The report, published as part of a series relating to Awaab’s Law, identifies four key ingredients for effective communication: timely, transparent, tailored and tone.
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