What happened

New-build housing starts in England reached 35,910 between April and June, up 6% on the previous quarter and 20% on the same period last year, Construction Enquirer reported this week. The rebound was driven overwhelmingly by higher-rise schemes moving through the Building Safety Regulator's Gateway 2 process. The BSR recorded 5,758 housing starts in the quarter, against a previous quarterly high of just 1,206 as recently as the third quarter of 2025. BSR-reported starts are now running at nearly five times their old peak and made up around 16% of all starts in the quarter.

The surge follows reforms launched last summer to tackle delays at the regulator, including a fast-track process for new-build applications and changes to its leadership and resourcing. Gateway 2, the pre-construction checkpoint for higher-risk residential buildings introduced under the Building Safety Act, had become notorious in the industry for holding up schemes for months at a time while developers waited for sign-off.

Why it matters for the market

For two years, Gateway 2 has been blamed for sitting on a growing pile of approved, funded higher-rise schemes that developers simply could not start on site. This data is the first clear sign that the backlog is unwinding rather than just growing. It matters because higher-rise residential, particularly in London and the other big regional cities, has been one of the more resilient parts of a construction market that is otherwise struggling with falling starts and thin margins elsewhere. If the regulator keeps clearing cases at this rate, a meaningful chunk of stalled pipeline could convert into live sites over the next two to three quarters.

It is not the whole housing story. Overall housing starts are still well down on pre-2023 levels, and much of this quarter's rise is concentrated in a specific building type rather than spread across the market. But for the contractors, subcontractors and consultants who specialise in higher-rise residential, this is the clearest signal in months that stalled work is finally about to move.

What it means for your career

If you work in higher-rise residential, this is the moment to be visible. Contractors that have been carrying design teams and pre-construction QSs through a quiet spell will need to staff up site teams fast once schemes get their Gateway 2 sign-off, and that tends to happen in a rush rather than gradually. Site management, package management and site-based QS roles on higher-rise jobs in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds are the ones most likely to open first.

There is also a sharper skills angle. Anyone who has spent the last two years building genuine expertise in Gateway 2 and Gateway 3 documentation, fire safety compliance and the Building Safety Act's golden thread requirements now has something scarce to offer. Developers and main contractors that got burned by regulatory delays are actively looking for commercial and technical staff who can manage that process rather than be surprised by it. If that is you, this is a good time to make sure your CV says so explicitly, not just that you have "residential experience."