Building safety levy (effective from 1 October 2026)

Background

The Building Safety Levy, is a tax on new residential buildings and will be collected by local authorities, as local guardians of the building control process with tax collection expertise. The income raised from the levy will contribute to fixing building safety defects across England, ensuring residents are safe.

The Building Safety Levy will come into operation on 1 October 2026 and applies to England only.

The Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025, setting out how the Building Safety Levy will operate, were approved by Parliament and were made on 19 November 2025.

This guidance GOV.UK - Building Safety Levy: Guidance should be read alongside the UK Government regulations shown above.

Implementation

The levy is a charge that developers must pay on certain building control applications / notices before completion of the building work or occupation of the building (whichever is earlier).

Anyone submitting an application for building control approval relating to the provision of one or more dwellings and/ or new bedspaces in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and change of use to residential purposes on or after that date will be liable to pay the levy, save where an exemption applies (see regulation 15).  If levy information is not included, the application may be rejected (or in the case of initial notice must be rejected).

The levy does not apply to existing applications for dwellings or PBSA that were submitted before 1 October 2026. If such existing applications are varied after 1 October 2026 (for example via a further full plans application for the same works, amendment notice or change control application) the levy does not apply to such applications.

If the client is an exempt person (defined in regulation 13), that is, a non-profit registered provider of social housing (or a wholly owned subsidiary company), all of their works are exempt from the levy charge, whether or not the intended use of the buildings is otherwise classed as exempt (see regulation 15). This is because such providers reinvest profits from housing sold or rented on the open market back into their social housing provision.

Levy Rates

The government has set the levy rates for each local authority area in legislation. The rates have been weighted using average house prices in local authority areas, so that areas with the highest average house prices have the highest levy rates, and those with the lowest average house prices have the lowest levy rates. The amount payable varies depending on the building's size, use and location.

The local authority in which the development is situated has the legal responsibility for levy administration, even where there is a shared building control service across several areas.

The levy rates are set per square metre and the charge is calculated on the floorspace of the development. There are exemptions from the levy for certain uses of buildings (see regulations 7 and 8, and Schedules 1 and 2), and a discounted rate for developments that meets the definition of "previously developed" as set out in the regulations.

Rates vary by local authority and whether the development is on previously developed land, please see the rates table GOV.UK - Building Safety Levy: Guidance - Section 2: Levy rates and calculations.

The levy charge is calculated by collecting authorities following provision of information and evidence at commencement notice stage. Payment must be made prior to the earlier of either the occupation or completion stage and must be made to the local authority acting as collecting authority (the local authority where the proposed buildings are located). 

Failure to pay the levy will mean the building control authority will withhold the completion certificate or reject the final certificate.

Local authorities will transfer levy revenues (net of administration costs) to central government. Levy revenue must be spent on building safety.

Reviews and Appeals

If a residential developer wishes to dispute the levy charge, a refund amount or the decision not to issue a refund, they can make this review request to the collecting authority in writing within 28 days after the levy liability notice (or revised levy determination notice), or decision regarding the refund, is given (see regulation 71).

If a developer remains in dispute they can appeal the matter to the First-tier Tribunal (regulation 73) within 28 days of receiving the review decision, beginning the day after they receive the review decision (or beginning the day by which the collecting authority should have notified the client of the decision, but did not).

For further Levy guidance, including process maps, please refer to GOV.UK - Building Safety Levy: Guidance as provided above.