UK government unleashes AI tool on planning system to speed up construction

The launch of the tool, called ‘Extract’ comes as the government struggles to stay on track with its target for the construction of 1.5 million homes by 2029 – something that many industry commentators consider unrealistic.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that the UK’s outdated planning system is “slowing down the development of vital infrastructure and making it harder to get the homes we need built”.

Using Google DeepMind’s Gemini mode, Extract will be made available to all local councils in England by Spring 2026 and is expected to speed up the processing of the hundreds of thousands of planning documents submitted each year.

The system in England that handles 350,000 applications submitted is still heavily reliant on paper documents, according to the government, some of which are hundreds of pages long.

Each document has to be manually validated and approved by a planning officer.

But the new Extract tool can scan hundreds of files in seconds and will power new types of planning software to cut the 250,000 estimated hours spent by planning officers each year to manually check documents.

There have already been test trials across Hillingdon, Nuneaton & Bedworth, and Exeter councils. In those trials, Extract digitalised planning records, including maps, in three minutes each, compared to the one to two hours it normally takes to do it manually.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said, “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.”

Tom Shardlow, CEO Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said, “Just like many local authorities, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has many plans and documents in storage from historic planning applications over the years. 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.”

The planning data, unlocked through Extract, will be uploaded to a publicly accessible gov.uk service page.

The announcement of the Extract AI tool comes as the government introduces its Planning and Infrastructure Bill which it hopes will accelerate the construction of homes and infrastructure across the country.