Google DeepMind's AI planning assistant is expanding to 12 more UK councils for a year-long trial on live applications.

Google DeepMind built PlanAssist, a tool made with Gemini that helps council planning officers in England assess applications for things like home extensions (Google DeepMind on X). It checks the documents and drawings, flags local restrictions such as protected trees, compares the plans with local and national planning rules and past objections, and drafts a report with citations that the officer then edits (DeepMind blog). DeepMind says it cut the time officers spent assessing householder applications by up to 58% in a pilot with Barnet, Camden and Dorset. It's now moving into a 12-month trial on live applications, with 12 more councils joining in three groups, including Lambeth, Westminster, Bristol and Newcastle. DeepMind says routine householder applications make up as much as 70% of planning officers' workload. The UK government says it plans to offer the tool to every council in England by the end of 2027 if testing goes well, with a qualified planning officer reviewing and approving every assessment (GOV.UK). It was announced alongside a separate rule change, in effect from today, that lets planning officers rather than council committees decide more straightforward applications. As the trade site National Construction News noted, no method behind the 58% figure has been published, and councils won't be required to use the tool.

What to watch: whether the year-long trial on real applications backs up the pilot's time savings, and how councils handle the officer sign-off when the AI drafts the report. If it holds up, England plans to offer it to every council by the end of 2027.