Building Safety Levy: What Do the Proposed 2026 Amendments Mean?
min readWhat is the Building Safety Levy?
The Building Safety Levy is due to come into force on 1 October 2026, having been delayed from October 2025.
The levy is a charge on new ‘major residential developments’ in England.
A major residential development comprises at least:
- 10 new dwellings (broadly aligning with the affordable housing trigger referred to in the National Planning Policy Framework), or
- 30 new bedspaces, if the development is for purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). The same room may contain more than one bedspace for another person.
Its purpose is to raise funds—approximately £3.4 billion over ten years—to pay for the remediation of buildings with safety defects.
Developers who do not pay the levy will be unable to obtain a completion certificate for their project. Levy rates vary depending on the local authority area; for example, £100.35 per square metre in Kensington and Chelsea to £13-£16 per square metre in Burnley.
We wrote about the Building Safety Levy in more detail last year: Levy the Playing Field – The challenges of the Building Safety Levy for the Living Sector.
More recently, amendments have been proposed to be made to the Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025 dealing with the “brownfield discount”.
What Do the 2026 Amendments Change?
The “brownfield discount” reduces the levy by 50% where a development takes place on a site where 75% or more of the land has been “previously developed”.
Broadly, land is “previously developed” where a building has existed since 1 July 1948.
Amendment 1: Wider definition of “building”
The definition has been widened so that it would include not only permanent buildings but also other permanent man-made structures or erections. This expressly includes load-bearing surfaces, paved areas, and fixed plant or machinery.
Notably, this means that car parks could qualify a site as “previously developed”. However, wholly underground structures (or underground parts that extend beyond the footprint of the building above) would be excluded.
Amendment 2: Unlawful operations do not count
The second amendment clarifies that if any building works or operations carried out in, on, over or under the land were unlawful (for example, constructed without proper planning permission) the land would not be treated as “previously developed” for the purposes of the brownfield discount.
Implications for Developers
If you are developing on a brownfield site, the expanded definition may make it easier to demonstrate that the land qualifies for the discount. Conversely, any reliance on unlawful historic operations will not help your position.
The Building Safety Levy more broadly will not apply to building control applications and initial notices submitted before 1 October 2026 (including where they are subsequently varied for example by an amendment notice or change control application). Developers should therefore consider carefully whether it might be possible to submit their applications / notices before 1 October 2026 to avoid the levy.
Whilst the Building Safety Levy is not restricted to higher risk building work, those submitting their gateway 2 applications for building control approval will be particularly keen to ensure that:
- Applications submitted prior to 1 October 2026 are not subsequently invalidated or rejected by the Building Safety Regulator (the rates of invalidation or rejection being reasonably high). This would trigger a levy liability if the application has to be resubmitted on or after that date.
- Applications contain the requisite levy information or risk the application being invalidated by the Building Safety Regulator. The Government has produced supporting guidance to assist applicants (see Building Safety Levy: Guidance - Guidance - GOV.UK).
For more developments and insights on Building and Fire Safety, please see here.
