Homeowners planning a loft conversion or house extension and small businesses improving their premises could get faster planning decisions under new government reforms.
From Saturday 31 October, straightforward applications will be decided by expert planning officers rather than waiting for a planning committee slot, helping families, shopkeepers and pub landlords get decisions sooner.
The new National Scheme of Delegation will give greater certainty for applicants, while freeing up councillors to focus on the most significant developments.
Families and businesses could also benefit from 420 newly recruited planners through government-backed programmes, surpassing the government’s 2024 manifesto commitment to recruit 300 additional planners more than two years before the end of this Parliament.
New AI technology designed to cut time-consuming admin will also help speed up decisions on routine applications like extensions and conservatories. Developed with Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Faculty and local authorities, PlanAssist brings together applications, policies and site constraints into one place for trained officers to review.
Early testing cut time spent on key planning tasks by 58%, helping to halve processing times for routine householder applications from eight weeks to four.
Following a successful trial in Camden, Barnet and Dorset Councils, the tool will now expand to 15 councils for 12 months, with the government intending to make it available to every council in England by the end of 2027.
With householder applications accounting for nearly 70% of all planning applications each year, the changes are expected to get more everyday applications moving, delivering a faster, more efficient planning service while giving planners more time to tackle complex cases.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: “Families wanting more space and businesses looking to grow shouldn’t be left waiting unnecessarily for straightforward planning decisions.
“We’re giving councils the people, tools and reforms they need to get applications moving faster, while freeing up planners and councillors to focus on the developments that will deliver the homes and infrastructure communities need.
“We’ve already beaten our manifesto commitment to recruit 300 planners, and we’re going further with 1,400 new recruits across the planning system by the end of this Parliament.”
AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said the reform puts AI to work for the public, slashing routine admin and helping families get quicker answers while freeing planners to focus on major developments.
Owen Larter, Senior Director for Frontier AI Policy & Global Affairs at Google DeepMind, said PlanAssist frees planning officers to spend more time deciding on applications and less time on paperwork.
Maureen Costello, Vice President for UK, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa at Google Cloud, said the expansion across 15 councils will help speed up everyday applications while freeing up capacity to help meet national homebuilding targets.
Paul Maltby, Director of Public Services at Faculty, said the system was built with planning officers in mind to ensure it is trustworthy and halves the time it takes to review applications.
Through the Incubator for AI, the government’s applied AI team, the project forms part of the Prime Minister’s AI Taskforce drive to put AI to work across government, cut bureaucracy and improve public services.
Together, the changes form part of the government’s wider planning reforms to speed up decisions, strengthen local services and support delivery of homes and infrastructure.
