Google DeepMind brings AI planning assistant to 15 English councils for live testing

An AI assistant for home-extension and renovation applications is moving from three pilot councils into a 12-month beta involving 15 English planning authorities. Google DeepMind’s PlanAssist will work on live applications, while officers retain decision-making authority. The expansion follows early testing that DeepMind says cut average time spent on assessment tasks by 58%.

A pilot built around everyday applications

Testing began in June in Barnet, Camden and Dorset. The initial focus was routine householder applications: work such as loft conversions, conservatories and extensions. These are smaller projects than major housing developments, but they account for up to 70% of planning officers’ workloads, according to DeepMind. The tool targets the checking and paperwork involved in assessing them, rather than replacing the officer who decides whether permission should be granted.

DeepMind developed PlanAssist with the UK government, Google Cloud and Faculty, using Gemini. It brings application material, planning policies and site constraints into one place for trained officers to review. Faculty says planning officers in the three pilot councils helped shape the system around the work they do.

From drawings to an editable recommendation

PlanAssist’s workflow starts before a recommendation is written. It checks whether the application contains the information needed to proceed, then examines the rules and constraints that could affect the proposal. DeepMind describes three main stages:

• Validate documents and architectural drawings, checking that required information has been submitted so the application can move forward.
• Check local and national planning policies, heritage constraints and tree preservation orders, along with previously raised issues or objections, including those from residents.
• Draft a fully cited assessment report that a planning officer can edit before reaching a final decision. The output is a recommendation for review, not an automatic approval.

DeepMind says officers approved more than 70% of generated reports without edits during the pilot. Those reports covered matters such as compliance with local planning rules and whether applicants had supplied all required documents. Acceptance without editing describes officers’ use of the drafts; it is not, by itself, an independent measure of their accuracy.

A wider trial before national availability

The government’s expansion announcement names 12 additional authorities: Ashford, Lambeth, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol, Cumberland, North Lincolnshire, Rochdale, Redbridge, South Gloucestershire, Stoke-on-Trent and Westminster. They join the original three councils, taking the test beyond its initial locations and into a larger group of local planning services.

DeepMind says the new councils will come aboard in three cohorts. The participating authorities cover metropolitan and rural districts, giving the beta a way to test the tool across different communities. This is a staged expansion of testing, not general access for councils across England.

During the trial, officers will use PlanAssist alongside their normal process to test its performance at scale. That arrangement keeps the existing workflow in place while councils assess the software on live applications. The government also says PlanAssist will not be mandatory software, distinguishing availability from a requirement to adopt it.

The next step remains conditional. The government intends to make PlanAssist available to every council in England by the end of 2027, subject to successful testing. DeepMind says every assessment would still need review and approval by a qualified planning officer before a decision. The beta therefore precedes a proposed national offer, rather than confirming that wider rollout has already been secured.