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. 

The PropTech Innovation Challenge

Applications for the PropTech Innovation Challenge, being delivered in partnership with Geovation, from Ordnance Survey, closed on 15 July 2025. The challenge attracted an impressive 84 submissions from innovators proposing scalable solutions to accelerate housing delivery across England.

Innovators were invited to team up with partners and respond to one of three critical challenges in housing delivery that could benefit from innovative technology:

  • Enhancing 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 

The challenge has generated significant cross-sector collaboration, with 225 partners involved across all applications, including developers, universities and local planning authorities. This collaborative approach is essential for addressing the complex challenges.

Shortlisting is now underway including a bootcamp for shortlisted applicants. The successful projects to receive funding will be announced in September 2025. Further opportunities to get involved will also be available.

For more details about the challenge statements and the research behind them, visit the MHCLG Digital blog. You can also read the Chief Planner Joanna Averley’s insights on how these innovative applications could transform our approach to meeting the government’s target of building 1.5 million homes.

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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