UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) 
We have built a national planning data platform. This will allow faster, more informed decision-making for central and local government that is based on up to date and easily accessible data. It will also empower the private sector including PropTech companies to develop innovative tools that create more efficient and productive housing and planning markets.
Our data infrastructure work is the foundation of the modernisation of England’s planning system, standardising the way planning information is submitted, processed and published. We aim to create data flows through the planning, housing and land ecosystems that will increase productivity and create more efficient processes, which will help with faster and better-informed decision making.
Lack of data is the biggest barrier to creating new services. Planning is devolved to hundreds of different organisations which include local authorities, national parks and development corporations, and in some cases even neighbourhoods.
It is currently very difficult to know what data exists and where to find it. The data is not accessible, it takes a lot of work to make it usable, and there aren’t consistent standards which means the data cannot be relied on. In addition, because of a lack of open data, anyone creating a new planning service must start from the beginning each time and local authorities are often unaware of existing tools and services on offer.
The current lack of interoperability between different planning services used by local authorities has a negative impact on the whole system, from applicants to the private and public sector, resulting in a poor user experience for planning officers, applicants and local communities.
For example, planning officers have to regularly perform repetitive administrative tasks like manually re-entering planning information into different parts of the process, and applicants find it hard to know what information is required in their application. Local communities are also impacted as the potential benefits of proposed developments are not clear.
MHCLG’s Digital Planning Programme has developed a data platform which collects data from different sources and makes it available in national datasets which can be downloaded or built upon using an Application Programming Interface (API). The platform is an index that signposts where the data came from and provides feedback on the data itself and the technical data standards.
Bringing the data together and displaying it in this way allows central government to work closely with local authorities, planning policy teams and the growing PropTech sector to design data which meets the needs of users and planning professionals.
Key outcomes will include:
- Local authorities using modern, data-driven digital planning services such as those being developed through the MHCLG funded Open Digital Planning project.
- Creating data flows that will increase productivity and create more efficient processes, including a faster development process.
- Increasing trust between communities, local authorities and property developers.
- Planning officers making better informed decisions based on their community’s needs.
- The PropTech sector growing and providing more innovative tools and services to drive local authority efficiency.
You can find out more about the platform and this workstream here.