Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
About the PropTech Innovation Fund
The PropTech Innovation Fund aims to accelerate the adoption of digital citizen engagement tools and transform community involvement in placemaking. Our ongoing programme is the largest UK Government PropTech Programme funding local authorities to work with industry at pace and scale to radically transform how communities can engage in the planning system.
The Fund was introduced in July 2021, it was set up to support the PropTech sector and local authorities to accelerate adoption of technology that will enhance community engagement and deliver a modern planning system.
The insights generated through the Fund will inform government’s work to modernise the planning system and wider policy reform. It will support the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to work with local planning authorities to establish best practice and develop digital guidance.
You can find out more about the projects and pilots funded through the PropTech Innovation Fund on our Digital Planning Case Studies page. We will add more case studies from various rounds of funding as they become available.
Funding rounds
Round 3 (2023 – current)
In March 2023 we announced 15 more council-led projects have been awarded a total of £3.2 million of funding through Round 3 of the PropTech Innovation Fund. 27 Local Planning Authority (LPAs) are involved in the pilots, some of which see multiple LPAs working in partnership.
You can find out more about this most recent round of funding in this DLUHC Digital Blog post.
Continuous Funding Model (2022 – current)
In September 2022, project teams from Round 1 and 2 were invited to apply for funding under the Continuous Funding Model (CFM). The CFM is designed to help funded project teams to maintain momentum and continuity. Instead of waiting for further funding rounds to open, projects can apply for funding for their next stage of work shortly after completing the previous phase.
Find out which projects were been awarded Continuous Funding here.
Round 2 (2022)
In January 2022, we invited local authorities to submit proposals that focused on how more inclusive community feedback can be used to inform the design and delivery process, to enable a culture of co-design and increase public interest and participation in planning. In March 2022 we announced funding had been awarded.
Find out more about Round 2 of the fund here.
Round 2 projects
DLUHC awarded a total of £3,020,321 of funding to 28 projects:
- Plymouth City Council (joint bid with South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council): £285,000
- London Borough of Newham: £125,000
- Epping Forest District Council (joint bid with East Herts District Council, Harlow Council, Hertfordshire County Council and Essex County Council): £228,800
- East Hampshire District Council: £40,500
- West Oxfordshire District Council: £118,250
- Watford Borough Council: £123,000
- Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council: £120,000
- Birmingham City Council: £65,500
- South Cambridgeshire District Council: £117,000
- London Borough of Redbridge: £125,000
- London Borough of Haringey: £99,000
- London Borough of Waltham Forest: £69,500
- Havant Borough Council: £83,450
- Southampton City Council: £125,000
- Harborough District Council: £125,000
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: £118,000
- Epsom and Ewell Borough Council: £125,000
- Runnymede Borough Council: £90,020
- London Borough of Lambeth: £92,164
- Leicester City Council: £86,750
- Stevenage Borough Council: £125,000
- London Borough of Wandsworth (joint bid with London Borough of Richmond upon Thames): £98,000
- Cornwall Council: £125,000
- Wirral Council: £92,950
- Bolsover District Council: £95,800
- Dacorum Borough Council (joint bid with St Albans City & District Council, Three Rivers District Council, Hertsmere Borough Council, Watford Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council): £121,750
- Lewes District Council: £112,500
- Surrey County Council: £121,187
Round 1 (2021)
The first round of the PropTech Innovation Fund was launched in August 2021 to increase the use of digital engagement within the planning process and work towards identifying and resolving barriers to adoption.
You can read case studies about Round 1 projects here and watch a recording of the Round 1 showcase event which took place in July 2022 in this YouTube video:
Round 1 projects
DLUCH awarded a total of £1,166,418 of funding to 13 projects:
- Dacorum Borough Council – £100,000
- Chesterfield Borough Council – £100,000
- Cotswold District Council – £53,193
- Southampton City Council – £100,000
- Greater Cambridgeshire Shared Planning Service – £98,250
- Stockport Council – £90,000
- London Borough of Hounslow – £100,000
- London Borough of Wandsworth – £30,000
- Dorset Council – £95,000
- London Borough of Barking and Dagenham – £100,000
- Watford Borough Council – £99,975
- Bolsover District Council – £100,000
- North Lincolnshire Council – £100,000