Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the publication of the Building Control Panel Report on 20 May 2026, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that large developers comply with Building Regulations; and what mechanisms are in place to investigate suspected breaches following a developed property's approval.

The Department is considering the 21 recommendations in the Building Control Independent Panel report. The report highlights the importance of building control in acting in the public interest to ensure developers are complying with the building regulations. The report identified low capacity in the sector as contributing to enforcement outcomes. The Government has provided £50m over three years to help recruit and train building inspectors, building capacity. The Government initially responded to accept the principles set out by the Panel. We will provide a full response to the Panel's final report in due course.

The Building Regulations place duties on those who procure, plan, manage and undertake building work to ensure that designs and completed work comply with the applicable requirements. Duty holders are also required to have the necessary competence and organisational capability to undertake their roles and to appoint competent individuals and organisations. In England, building control bodies conduct checks during building work to assure compliance with the building regulations. If at any point it is found that a person carrying out building work has breached the building regulations the Building Safety Regulator and local authorities then have the power to bring prosecutions without time limits.