DeepMind's PlanAssist AI tool for UK planning decisions detailed

In a post dated October 31, 2026, Google DeepMind describes PlanAssist, an AI tool for UK planning officers that is to be offered to an additional 12 local planning authorities in England. The company says early pilot testing in Barnet, Camden and Dorset cut the average time officers spent on householder assessment tasks by up to 58 percent. It stresses that the tool is meant to support human judgement and that officers keep the final decision on every application.

The post explains the problem being addressed. Routine householder applications make up as much as 70 percent of planning officers' workloads, and delays affect both the government's goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2029 and families waiting on small projects such as extensions. PlanAssist runs on Gemini and was created jointly by the UK government, Google Cloud and Faculty, forming part of DeepMind's broader partnership with the government on public services.

According to DeepMind, the tool works in stages. It checks application documents and drawings for completeness, compares the application with heritage constraints and local and national policy, looks for objections already raised, and then drafts fully cited reports that officers can edit. Since June the pilot councils have used it, and more than 70 percent of generated reports were approved without edits.

PlanAssist now enters a 12-month Beta phase on live applications. Twelve more councils will join in three cohorts, making 15 in total, spanning metropolitan and rural districts. Subject to successful testing, the government plans to make the tool available to every council in England in 2027, with a qualified planning officer reviewing each assessment.