What’s changing
From Saturday 31 October, straightforward planning applications in England will be decided by expert planning officers rather than waiting for a slot on a council planning committee, under a new National Scheme of Delegation. The government says this will give homeowners extending a loft, shopkeepers and pub landlords improving their premises, and other small businesses, quicker and more certain decisions, while leaving councillors to focus on larger developments.
Householder applications make up nearly 70% of all planning applications each year, according to the Department.
The AI tool behind the numbers
Alongside the rule change, the government has rolled out PlanAssist, an AI tool developed with Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Faculty and local authorities. It pulls together applications, planning policies and site constraints into a single view for trained planning officers to use when assessing cases, rather than making decisions itself.
The government says early testing cut time spent on key planning tasks by 58%, and that this has helped halve processing times for routine householder applications from eight weeks to four. The tool was trialled in Camden, Barnet and Dorset councils. It will now expand to 15 councils for a 12-month period, with ministers aiming to make it available to every council in England by the end of 2027.
Staffing numbers
The Department says 420 planners have been recruited through government-backed programmes, which it says exceeds the 2024 manifesto commitment to add 300 planners, delivered more than two years ahead of the end of this Parliament. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the government intends to go further, targeting 1,400 new recruits across the planning system by the end of this Parliament.
What it means for UK applicants
For homeowners in England applying for things like extensions, conservatories or loft conversions, and for small businesses seeking to alter their premises, the practical change is that straightforward cases should no longer need to wait for a committee meeting, and processing could take around four weeks rather than eight where PlanAssist is in use. The scheme currently covers 15 councils over the coming year, so the speed-up will not be universal immediately. Homeowners and businesses outside those areas will still be subject to existing timescales until the wider rollout, which the government says it wants completed by the end of2027.
AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said the approach shows AI being used to cut routine admin so planners can focus on the complex applications tied to housebuilding and infrastructure. Google DeepMind’s Owen Larter said the tool is designed to free up officers’ time for assessing applications rather than replace their judgment.
What to watch next
The key dates to track are the 12-month trial period for the 15 councils now using PlanAssist, and the government’s target of national rollout to every council in England by the end of 2027. It will also be worth watching whether the National Scheme of Delegation measurably reduces decision times beyond the pilot areas, and whether the government hits its revised target of 1,400 new planning recruits by the end of this Parliament.