As we wrap up the year, it's time to look back through the 2023 highlights of DLUHC’s Digital Planning Programme.
As part of the wider DLUHC Digital Planning programme, Round 2 of the PropTech Innovation Fund was launched in March 2022 working with 36 LPA partners and 20 Property Technology (PropTech) companies to accelerate the adoption of digital tools and services in the planning process. Discover more about key insights from funded projects in this blog post.
Round 1 of the PropTech Innovation Fund funded 13 pioneering Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) across England to work with 8 Property Technology (PropTech) partners to use innovative digital tools to make the planning process more open and accessible. The projects aimed to boost public engagement, while gathering evidence about the barriers to allow local authorities to adopt digital tools at scale.
We’re pleased to announce 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.
DLUHC is funding 19 more councils to lead and take part in digital projects that will encourage quicker planning decisions and improve digital planning software.
DLUHC’s Housing and Planning Minister, Lucy Frazer, visited Buckinghamshire Council on the 26 January to learn more about Buckinghamshire’s experience of being part of the Open Digital Planning (ODP) project, demo new user-centred Digital Planning services and hear more about the council’s wider ideas for streamlining the planning system as part of the department’s Digital Planning Programme.
There may not be any partridges or pear trees in sight as we reach the end of 2022, but the DLUHC Digital Planning team have reflected back on the year’s 12 stand out moments to acknowledge a fantastic year of work in collaboration with Local Planning Authorities and industry partners.
The PropTech Engagement Fund continues to build on its success as we launch the next round of funding for 9 projects under the Digital Planning Continuous Funding Model. This most recent funding will see select projects from previous rounds explore ideas around how to further scale the adoption of digital tools and increase efficiencies when undertaking planning consultation projects across the country.
The Planning Software Improvement Fund aims to help Local Planning Authorities in England (LPAs) to improve the digital services they use for the submission and assessment of planning applications - the development management side of local planning.
In the summer the DLUHC Digital Planning team held a virtual Roundtable event to connect senior DLUHC officials with a wide range of voices to help the Property Technology (PropTech) sector understand the government’s levelling up agenda and discuss where their insights, experience and solutions could help.
