This is expected to make home improvements easier and accelerate the plan to build one-and-a-half million homes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the launch of the ‘Extract’ tool at London Tech Week. It is an AI assistant for planning officers and local councils, which has been developed by the Government with support from Google.
The technology will convert handwritten planning documents and maps into data in minutes and will power new kinds of planning software to cut the estimated 250,000 hours spent by planning officers by manually checking documents.
The Government said this was expected to reduce delays caused by the manual checking of the 350,000 planning applications submitted each year in England.
Test trials of the Extract tool were carried out in Hillingdon, Nuneaton and Bedworth, and Exeter councils, which showed that planning records could be digitised in three minutes compared to the manual time frame of 1-2 hours.
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The Government said this suggested the tool would be able to process around 100 planning records per day.
Extract is expected to be made available to all councils by spring next year, with an aim to fully digitise the planning system.
The planning data that is digitised by Extract will be uploaded to a publicly accessible Gov.uk service page.
The Government will also determine the most efficient ways to deploy Extract to local authorities, which could include creating an app so documents can be scanned instantly.
Starmer said: “For too long, our outdated planning system has held back our country – slowing down the development of vital infrastructure and making it harder to get the homes we need built.
“This Government is working hand in hand with business to change that. With Extract, we’re harnessing the power of AI to help planning officers cut red tape, speed up decisions, and unlock the new homes for hard-working people as part of our Plan for Change.
“It’s a bold step forward in our mission to build 1.5 million more homes and deliver a planning system that’s fit for the 21st century.”
Angela Rayner, deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, added: “From day one, we made an unwavering promise to use every tool at our disposal to build the 1.5 million homes and vital infrastructure through our Plan for Change that our local communities desperately need.
“By using cutting-edge technology like Extract, we can fix the broken planning system, cut delays, save money, and also reduce burdens on councils to help pave the way for the biggest building boom in a generation.”
This article was first published on YourMoney.com‘s sister site, Mortgage Solutions. Read: PM unveils AI tool to speed up planning and deliver more homes
