Interiors news: high-rise refurbishment approvals rise to 91% as ministers give no date for new furniture fire rules (14 November 2026)
The Building Safety Regulator's latest figures show refurbishment work in tall residential buildings is being approved faster and more often, while the government still has no date for its reply on furniture fire safety reform. DFS says sofa demand has softened again, a Southwark extension shows what glossy tiles and glass block can do for a Victorian terrace, and two home products were pulled over safety faults.
High-rise refurbishment approvals rise to 91%, with a median wait of 30 weeks
The Building Safety Regulator's data for August to October 2026, published on 6 November, shows the approval rate for internal works in higher-risk buildings (categories A and B) has risen from 85% to 91%, with the median approval time down slightly to 30 weeks. These are refurbishment jobs inside residential blocks of at least 7 storeys or 18 metres. Over the past 12 weeks the regulator received 470 new internal works applications, about 39 a week, made 218 decisions and had 1,116 in progress. Internal works now account for around 54% of all gateway 2 decisions, and the regulator says extra capacity for this type of application is expected in the coming months.
New build applications surged before the building safety levy took effect on 1 October: 64 arrived in September, against 34 in August and 17 in July, then just 6 in October. Of the late surge applications checked so far, 18 were judged poor quality and paused, and 8 are recommended for rejection. New build approvals stand at 95%, with a median of 20 weeks. From next month the regulator will also publish data on its investigations and enforcement.
Sources: Building Safety Regulator, GOV.UK, 6 November 2026, BSR performance data August to October 2026 (PDF).
No date yet for the government's response on furniture fire safety reform
Business minister Kate Dearden told MPs on 4 November that the government is "currently reviewing" responses to its consultation on reforming the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, which closed on 23 June, and will publish a formal response "in due course". She gave no timetable and no indication of the transition period manufacturers might get. The questions came from Greg Smith MP, elected chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Furniture Industry Group at its AGM on 27 October. He is due to speak at the Furnishings Industry Showcase in the House of Lords on 25 November.
In a separate answer on 6 November, the minister said the 2024 Consumer Detriment Survey puts net monetised consumer detriment in the home improvement sector at £10.3bn, and that the government has supported the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman's new Approved Code for workmanship, transparency and dispute resolution.
Sources: UK Parliament written answer, 4 November 2026, Furniture News, 6 November 2026, UK Parliament written answer, 6 November 2026.
DFS says sofa demand has softened further, after October's weak big-ticket sales
In a trading update on 13 November covering the 19 weeks to 8 November, DFS said upholstery market demand had softened further over the last seven weeks, "reflecting continued pressure on household budgets and reduced consumer confidence". Group order intake had been 2.5% down year on year over the first 12 weeks of the financial year. The retailer is running targeted offers for Black Friday and its Winter Sale, says its fifth mezzanine, opened at DFS Leeds Birstall in October, is trading in line with expectations, and will update again on 21 January 2027.
The British Retail Consortium's figures for October, reported on 10 November, show total UK retail sales up 1.5% and non-food sales flat. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said big-ticket categories such as furniture and white goods "performed badly as customers waited for November deals".
Sources: Furniture News, 13 November 2026, Furniture News, 10 November 2026.
Southwark terrace extension uses green and red tiles and a glass-block wall
OEB Architects has added an open-plan kitchen and dining room to the back of a three-storey Victorian terrace in Southwark, Dezeen reported on 4 November. Rather than the usual infill extension with a sloping roof light down to the boundary, the studio pulled the new room back from the southern boundary and lined that side with a glass-block wall and full-height windows, creating a courtyard next to the main house as well as the rear garden.
Inside, a kitchen island in glossy green tiles and a column in shiny red tiles stand against white walls, stone floors and pale timber. The column tiles are by Blueprint Ceramics, the island tiles by Johnson Tiles and the floor tiles by Solus. Translucent curtains can screen off the south-facing courtyard.
Source: Dezeen, 4 November 2026.
Cot mobile arm recalled and an LED strip light kit stopped at the border
Petite Amélie has recalled every wooden cot mobile holder with item codes MOBARMWL (brown) and MOBARMWLD (dark brown), regardless of batch, because the glued joint of the arm can loosen and the arm and mobile could fall into the cot or playpen. The alert, published on 6 November, rates the risk as high. Owners should remove it from the cot; refunds are being issued automatically to the original payment method.
On 12 November Trading Standards reported that an import of the Palitix Smart Wi-Fi RGB LED Lighting Strip, a 10 metre kit sold via Amazon, had been rejected at the border. Its plug does not meet the dimensions of BS 1363: the pins sit too close to the edge of the plug face, so the live pin could be touched while the plug is being pushed in or pulled out.
Sources: OPSS product recall, 6 November 2026, OPSS product safety report, 12 November 2026.
What this means for designers, specifiers and homeowners
If you have refurbishment work planned in a block of 7 storeys or 18 metres and over, allow around 30 weeks for gateway 2 approval and submit a complete application, because poor-quality ones are now being paused. Furniture makers and specifiers still have no date for new flammability rules, so keep working to the 1988 regulations. And check nurseries and any recently bought plug-in lighting against the two alerts above.