Google DeepMind cuts planning assessment time by 58 percent – twelve more councils get the tool

Google DeepMind has built an AI tool to help English councils handle planning applications from homeowners. In a pilot at three councils, PlanAssist cut the time planning officers spent on assessment by up to 58 percent. Twelve more councils are now getting access, and the UK government plans to make it available to every council in England in 2027 if testing goes well.

Google DeepMind announced the expansion on X on Saturday 31 October 2026 at 13:33 UTC and published a blog post with the details at the same time. The tool is built on Google's Gemini model.

The small cases that take the most time

Applications for extensions, loft conversions and conservatories are often simple to approve, but they eat up time. According to Google DeepMind, these householder applications account for up to 70 percent of planning officers' workloads.

The company ties the tool to a wider political goal. The UK government wants to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029, and slow planning processes hold that back. For families, it can mean months of waiting for approval on something as simple as a conservatory.

How PlanAssist works

PlanAssist was developed by Google DeepMind together with the UK government, Google Cloud and the British AI company Faculty. It handles four steps of the assessment:

• It checks that the application is complete, including documents and architectural drawings.
• It checks the application against heritage constraints, such as tree preservation orders, and against local and national planning policies.
• It looks for objections and issues raised earlier, for example by local residents.
• It drafts a fully cited assessment report that the planning officer can edit.

Google DeepMind stresses that the tool is meant to support, not replace, professional judgement. Planning officers keep the final say on every application, and every assessment is to be reviewed and approved by a qualified planning officer before any decision is made.

The pilot numbers

The tool has been piloted at Barnet, Camden and Dorset councils since June. There, the average time officers spent on householder assessment tasks fell by 58 percent. The company also says officers approved more than 70 percent of the reports the tool generated without any edits. That included assessments of whether an application complies with local planning rules and whether the applicant has submitted all required documentation.

The figures come from Google DeepMind itself. The blog post does not say how many applications the pilot covered, how time was measured, or what the tool costs councils.

From pilot to scale

PlanAssist now moves into a 12-month beta phase using live applications. The twelve new councils will be onboarded in three cohorts, bringing the total to 15. The group includes both metropolitan and rural districts, so the tool is tested across different kinds of communities. The announcement does not name the new councils.

Subject to successful testing, the government plans to make the tool available to all councils in England in 2027. PlanAssist is part of a broader partnership between Google DeepMind and the UK government on using AI in planning and other public services.

What it means for leaders

• Routine cases get automated first. PlanAssist does not tackle the hard cases, but the many simple ones that take the most time. The same pattern fits building permits in Norwegian municipalities and much standardised casework in private companies.
• The human keeps the decision. The model runs the checks and writes the draft, but a professional signs off. That makes AI easier to adopt in work where law and accountability require human judgement.
• Measure before you scale. The UK started with three councils, measured time spent and the share of drafts approved unchanged, and only then expanded. Ask for the same numbers from your own pilots before rolling an AI tool out widely.

Sources and media

• Google DeepMind on X: "We built PlanAssist to help UK Government planning officers speed up building and renovations across the country", 31 October 2026, 13:33 UTC
• Google DeepMind: Speeding up planning decisions with AI, 31 October 2026

Illustration: AI-generated with Grok Bot / hogby.ai