Hundreds of files can be scanned in seconds rather than days or weeks, fast-tracking home building.
Extract is an artificial intelligence assistant for planning officers and local councils. The application has been developed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Google.
The software was trialled by Bedworth, Hillingdon, Nuneaton and Exeter councils, and was capable of digitising planning records, including maps, in three minutes per file. It would normally take between one and two hours to do this manually. Estimates now suggest the program could process 100 complete records a day, rather than weeks.
‘We build our AI models to understand all types of information – from text to handwritten notes and technical drawings – so it’s really exciting to see the UK government choose Gemini to help speed up the planning process and support planners and people across the country,’ said Demis Hassabis, Co-Founder and CEO of Google DeepMind.
350,000 planning applications are submitted each year to English authorities, who currently rely on a paper-based system. Some documents run for hundreds of pages, and must be physically validated and approved by a qualified officer.
Under the new process, much of the manual effort would be automated, freeing up staff to oversee other tasks such as authentication and approval. Extract is expected to roll out nationally in 2026, and all documents uploaded in this way will be available online for the public to access – a move which aims to make planning applications more transparent.
‘From day one we made an unwavering promise to use every tool at our disposal to build the 1.5 million homes and vital infrastructure through our Plan for Change that our local communities desperately need,’ said Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner. ‘By using cutting-edge technology like Extract we can fix the broken planning system, cut delays, save money, and also reduce burdens on councils to help pave the way for the biggest building boom in a generation.’
‘Just like many local authorities, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has many plans and documents in storage from historic planning applications over the years,’ added Tom Shardlow, CEO of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council. ‘Working with the Extract team, we have seen the outputs from Extract, and how these could improve our service, providing high quality, digital, GeoSpatial data and how this could speed up the process for our Planning Team.’
Image: Terrah Holly / Unsplash
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