Building Safety Levy 2026
The Building Safety Levy (BSL) is a new charge that will apply to the development of new residential units in England, including schemes that create new homes through new build, conversion or change of use. It will also apply to purpose-built student accommodation where developments provide 30 or more bedspaces.
The BSL is designed to help fund the remediation of serious building safety defects by raising around £3.4 billion over 10 years, shifting the cost away from leaseholders and taxpayers.
For more detailed information, including exemptions, rates and how the levy is applied, please visit the official GOV.UK Building Safety Levy guidance.
What are we doing and why?
It is expected that this legislation will cause a spike in the volume of new Initial Notices that we must process. We therefore need to introduce a temporary charging mechanism for Initial Notices related to our Building Control service in order to cover our significant additional costs during the coming period.
Charging mechanism
For documentation received within the below timeframes, we will aim to ensure that all Initial Notices and amendments are served by midnight on 30 September 2026.
We understand that some of our customers have expressed a preference as to when they would like their Initial Notices served. We will do our utmost to achieve these dates where possible.
Any documentation received after 31 July 2026 will be processed only once all previously received submissions have been actioned. These cases will therefore be handled on a best endeavours basis. We are unable to guarantee that documentation received after this date will be processed by midnight on 30 September.
| Timeframe | New | Amend/Lapsed |
| 1 April – 31 May | £275 | £500 |
| 1 June – 31 July | £325 | £700 |
| 1 August – 30 September | £375 | £900 |
Please note no charges will apply to new Initial Notices with a site start date before 1 January 2027.
What we need from you
To ensure we can deliver a smooth and timely service and to guarantee that every Initial Notice is correctly submitted to the local authority, please follow the guidance below.
It is your responsibility to ensure your submissions are correct first time. It is essential that all required documentation is provided at the time you submit your request. We are unable to forward submissions to the local authority until all necessary documents have been received. Although we will aim to follow up on any missing information, Site Notification and Initial Notices (SNINs) that are submitted with all documents included will be prioritised.
Please note that due to the expected volumes we may not have capacity to follow up on all incompletes.
Please ensure that the NHBC Portal is used solely for the submission of new Site Notifications and Initial Notices.
For new (unregistered) sites, each submission must include the following:
- copies of the site location plan showing a clear red boundary line and at least two nearby street names where possible
- details showing the connections to the drainage outfalls (foul and surface water)
- a development connectivity plan or statement of exemption required under Approved Document Part R (Infrastructure for electronic communications)
Please note: a model form connectivity plan is detailed in appendix B of Approved Document R
- Section 6 of the ADR connectivity plan requires evidence, to support Section 5
- Details confirming the scheduled date that each plot will reach commencement stage. You can download our proforma 16E document to assist or use your own
Amendments to existing sites
For amendments to existing sites, where plots are going to lapse, please use the following template: Copy of BSL - Customer Site Information-Lapsed IN.
Once completed please email to sninenquiries@nhbc.co.uk.
You will also be required to upload the documents listed below to the existing Building Control Job on the Portal by using the ‘Docs to NHBC’ tab.
- a development connectivity plan or statement of exemption required under Approved Document Part R (Infrastructure for electronic communications)
Please note: details of a model form connectivity plan are available online.
- Section 6 of the ADR connectivity plan linked above requires evidence to support Section 5.
(An email/letter from the supplier, or a plan showing the site/plot connections for the gigabit fibre network)
- details confirming the scheduled date that each plot will reach commencement stage. You can download our proforma 16E document to assist or use your own.
Frequently asked questions
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We are providing an update on the introduction of the Building Safety Levy and explaining how we are preparing to collaborate with customers ahead of this regulatory change, which comes into force on 1 October 2026.
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We surveyed some of our customers to understand anticipated volumes and timings for new Initial Notices, as well as any amendments needed to existing served Initial Notices. We surveyed a sample set of builders to gain an insight of the level of resource required.
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The information provided helped us understand the expected demand and timescales. This insight enabled us to forecast the additional cost to support our customers through the upcoming regulatory changes.
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The projected volume of submissions is expected to exceed our standard processing capacity significantly. To accommodate this, a proportion of work will need to be completed outside normal working hours, resulting in additional operational costs. These costs will therefore need to be passed on to customers.
Please note no charges will apply to new Initial Notices with a site start date before 1 January 2027.
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Timeframe New Amend/Lapsed 1 April – 31 May £275 £500 1 June – 31 July £325 £700 1 August – 30 September £375 £900 Please note no charges will apply to new Initial Notices with a site start date before 1 January 2027.
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For documentation received within the above timeframes, we aim to ensure that all Initial Notices and amendments are served by midnight on 30 September 2026.
We understand that some of our customers have expressed a preference as to when they would like their Initial Notices served. We will do our utmost to achieve these dates where possible.
Any documentation received after 31 July 2026 will be processed only once all previously received submissions have been actioned. These cases will therefore be handled on a best endeavours basis. We are unable to guarantee that documentation received after this date will be processed by midnight on 30 September 2026.
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As we do not yet know the workload or when documentation will be received and processed, we will issue invoices only after September 2026, once the transitional period has ended.
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Yes. We will continue to keep customers informed of any further developments.
Contact us
For general enquiries or adding or removing plots on existing sites/Initial Notices contact our Customer Services team.