Westminster wins Gateway 2 approval for 334-home second phase of Ebury Bridge regeneration

Westminster City Council has secured Building Safety Regulator approval for the £229m second phase of its Ebury Bridge Estate regeneration, allowing main construction of 334 homes to start with contractor McLaren.

The council said on 12 October that the regulator had approved five building safety applications, one for each of the new buildings in Phase Two.

The council said the Gateway 2 decision showed each building met the fire and structural safety requirements set under the Building Safety Act, and that it paved the way for the start of main construction works.

Councillor David Harvey, Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration at Westminster City Council, said: "It provides our residents with reassurance that their new homes have met the rigorous demands set by the regulator in design, safety and delivery planning."

He added: "Collaboration with our main contractor McLaren has been key to achieving this milestone and it now gives the team the certainty needed to move ahead."

The scheme

Ebury Bridge, in Knightsbridge and Belgravia, is a comprehensive redevelopment of a 1930s council estate. Phase Two is the largest of three phases and is to deliver 334 homes in a mixed-tenure neighbourhood, according to the council.

The council's latest release said the finished scheme would provide 781 homes, a series of linked public squares, a retail parade and communal facilities. Its December 2025 release gave a slightly different total of 779 homes across the three phases, of which 373 would be for social rent.

Phase One completed in December 2024 with 226 homes, 100 of them for social rent, the council said. All existing residents have the right to return once the works are complete.

Residents backed the revised scheme with 91% support in a confirmatory ballot, which the council said unlocked more than £40m of Greater London Authority funding. The scheme is rated BREEAM Outstanding.

The contract

Westminster's Cabinet approved the £229m Phase Two budget when it confirmed McLaren as construction partner in December 2025. That award followed a pre-construction services agreement with Mclaren Construction Limited in October 2024, after the contractor was selected through a public sector procurement process in February 2024.

At the time of the December appointment, the council said enabling works for Phase Two were expected to begin in early 2026.

Councillor Ellie Ormsby, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Renters, said in December 2025 that Westminster faced an acute need for a range of housing provision.

Gateway 2 context

The approval comes as the Building Safety Regulator's own figures for July to September 2026 show the median approval time for new-build higher-risk building applications at 23 weeks, a slight increase on the previous period. The regulator said its approval rate for new-build applications had risen to 97%.

Submissions have climbed sharply. The regulator recorded 64 new-build applications in September, up from 34 in August, 17 in July and 12 in June. It attributed the rise to applicants filing ahead of the building safety levy, which took effect on 1 October 2026.

Month (2026)	New-build submissions to BSR
June	12
July	17
August	34
September	64

With Gateway 2 cleared, the council said the project team now has the certainty needed to move into main construction on the 334-home phase.