Government crest UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

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Laying the foundations for better local public services

Improved community engagement and supporting the PropTech sector

Our vision is to transform the planning system and housing market by creating a thriving PropTech marketplace.  

There is a strong and growing PropTech ecosystem with the capacity to support delivery of infrastructure and the government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes. We are working to ensure the PropTech sector actively shapes planning, regeneration, and housing policy to support better outcomes for our communities. 

The PropTech Innovation Fund is the UK Government’s largest PropTech programme and since 2021 has supported 77 LPAs across 114 pilots and four rounds of funding to adopt PropTech tools and services.  

Since 2021, the fund has demonstrated the value of technology in the public sector and is accelerating the adoption of technology across the whole plan-making process – from community engagement to site identification and appraisal. Through the PropTech Innovation Fund we are working with the PropTech sector to scale their services across LPAs.    

We want to support local government and the growing UK PropTech market to innovate and adopt digital approaches to engaging communities, which in turn streamline the planning process and help enable faster housing and infrastructure development. 

The MHCLG Digital Planning Programme is working to transform how local authorities and the development industry use digital tools to enable more inclusive and diverse placemaking.  

This work is helping to tackle fundamental problems in the current planning system, such as low levels of public engagement, complexity of planning information and the inefficiencies of working in a system where data cannot be easily accessed, analysed or shared. 

MHCLG’s PropTech Innovation Fund is the largest UK Government PropTech programme and has been globally recognised as a best practice case study in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) report on Global Trends on Government Innovation 2023.   

As part of our approach to advocating for greater adoption, we have worked with the sector to publish case studies which bring these projects and their outcomes’ to life. One example is where funded local authorities have increased engagement by up to 300%, developed new technology that is now being scaled by market leading companies and reached user groups who have not previously responded to planning in their local area.  

As the fund develops, we will continue to support LPAs and the sector to scale by sharing best practice and guidance with the wider planning industry. 

Key outcomes will include: 

  • Increased quantity of community participation in planning. 
  • Increased quality (diversity) of community voices engaged in planning. 
  • Increased awareness about the benefits and trade-offs for new development to help enable faster housing and infrastructure development. 
  • Increased transparency between LPAs and their communities which can support a positive relationship and greater trust. 
  • Reduced planning officer time and resources to undertake consultations, carry out site identification and assessment.

Our ongoing engagement with stakeholders in the PropTech sector aims to:   

  • Accelerate adoption of innovative PropTech tools, the use of real time data and AI. 
  • Bring insights into policymaking to ensure new policy is flexible and enables the innovation required to improve England’s housing and planning systems.
  • Provide confidence on the direction of government ambitions, to spur investment and growth in the growing UK PropTech market.

Digital Planning Directory

To find about what digital planning services are available to help modernise planning practices visit the Digital Planning Directory.

The Directory is seed-funded by the Digital Planning programme and delivered and managed by the Digital Task Force for Planning, an innovation-led not-for profit organisation. It’s a ‘one-stop shop’ providing planners and the private sector with a comprehensive and user-friendly resource to help them find and use digital planning tools and services. It currently lists over 100 digital planning service providers, including their area of expertise, case studies and contact details, to help drive adoption of these tools to enhance planning processes. 

Latest funding available

We’re pleased to announce the launch of our new PropTech Innovation Challenge, in partnership with Geovation. Applications are now open for up to 12 tech innovators to share in £1.2 million, partnering with local authorities and developers on scalable solutions that unlock the development potential of small sites and accelerate housing delivery across England. 

Through our partnership with Geovation we want to work directly with innovators to identify challenges in housing delivery that could benefit from innovative technology and to fund creative solutions that help overcome these barriers. The Challenge is focused on the following areas: 

  • Enhanced accessibility, transparency and useability of land ownership and availability data 
  • Unlocking small site and SME potential through de-risking investment and viability 
  • Offering greater certainty to developers on existing and future infrastructure capacity 

Local planning authorities are encouraged to get involved. Developers or local planning authorities can apply jointly with a tech innovator partner, or, for those without a partner, there’s an opportunity to express your interest to help collaborate and co-design digital solutions.

Applications are open until 15 June 2025, so visit the PropTech Innovation Challenge website to learn more and either register for a partner opportunity or apply.

More information

Find out more about our work in the following areas:

PropTech Innovation Funding

Given the current scope of the PropTech Innovation Fund, the programme is not opening a further round of funding for applications from new local authorities at this stage. You can find out about previous funding rounds on this dedicated webpage. 

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