Developers submit Future Of Planning applications to local authorities to obtain permission for construction projects.

These applications play a crucial role in ensuring proposed developments comply with local planning regulations and guidelines, balancing community needs and environmental impact.

The planning process significantly impacts the construction industry, determining which projects can proceed and under what conditions.

However, delays in processing planning applications can have severe consequences. They can stall construction projects, leading to increased costs, missed deadlines, and financial uncertainty for developers.

These setbacks not only hinder economic growth but also disrupt community development and infrastructure improvements. Therefore, it is imperative to address these inefficiencies and streamline the planning process urgently.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has introduced machine-readable future planning policies and automated validation processes.

These advancements aim to make documents searchable by computers, allowing for quicker and more accurate compliance checks.

Additionally, the adoption of digital standard templates will standardise submissions, ensuring all data is easily accessible and consistent.

Digital databases will provide real-time access to application statuses, fostering greater public engagement and reducing wait times.

Industry stakeholders can expect a more streamlined and reliable planning process, facilitating smoother project approvals and encouraging sustainable development. This digital transformation promises to enhance the efficiency of the construction industry and support more dynamic urban growth.

The future of planning applications in the UK remains mired in outdated processes.

Surprisingly, residents still depend on planning notices attached to lamp posts, printed in newspapers, or posted in libraries to learn about proposed local developments. This method is neither efficient nor accessible.

Current Challenges of Future Of Planning:

• Manual Processes

Planners spend considerable time manually checking, sorting, and searching documents.

• Non-Searchable Documents

Often, these documents are in PDF format or scanned paper documents, making them unsearchable and unreadable by computers. This significantly slows down the process.

• Dependence on Individuals

For many developers, the biggest disruption occurs when the lead local authority official leaves their job, highlighting the system’s reliance on individual views rather than a streamlined, consistent process.

In response to these challenges, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has started addressing these issues.

In 2018, they created the new MHCLG Digital team to modernise the planning system. The aim is to make planning applications more efficient and accessible.

What Are The Key Improvements?

• Digital Transformation

By digitising documents and making them searchable, the MHCLG aims to reduce manual labour and improve efficiency.

• Consistency

Reducing reliance on individual officials will help create a more consistent and reliable system.

• Accessibility

Modernising the process ensures that more people can easily access information about local developments.

For many developers the biggest disruption to the process is when the lead local authority official leaves their job, suggesting that the system is too dependent on the views of individual people.

– Yoop Architects

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MHCLG Digital for the future of planning

MHCLG Digital aims to upskill and update the Ministry for the internet age. It is a broad department that works on local digital collaboration, digital land services and policies, supporting local governments as well as addressing issues such as homelessness and loneliness. It will help to change the future of planning indeed.

Digital Land is the team working to make land and housing data easier to find, use and trust. Their mission is to make it easier for:

• Everyone involved in land and housing development to make better informed decisions
• Communities to better understand and engage with development decisions in their area
• PropTech companies to create new digital services for the marketplace
• Local authorities to record decisions and report data, freeing up their limited resources
• Policy teams in MHCLG to create policy based on high quality, relevant data

With the team and the foundations in place, the government have proposed plans for better digital engagement and online local plans in their August 2020 white paper ‘Planning for the Future’

Embracing Digital Transformation

• Streamlined Online Portals: Paper-based applications could become a relic of the past. The future might see a shift towards user-friendly online portals where applicants can submit all documents electronically, simplifying the process and improving accessibility.

• Interactive 3D Modelling: Interactive 3D models could supplement traditional 2D plans. They would enable planners and the public to visualize proposed developments more immersively, enhancing understanding and feedback capabilities.

• AI-powered Automation: Artificial intelligence (AI) could play a role in automating certain aspects of the planning process.

Enhancing Public Participation

Enhancing public participation in the planning process is crucial for fostering transparency and community involvement.

• Virtual Public Consultations

Supplementing physical public consultations with virtual options, such as online forums and interactive platforms, enables wider and more accessible participation.

Residents can engage conveniently from their homes, contributing to more informed decision-making.

• Real-Time Feedback Mechanisms

Integrating real-time feedback mechanisms into the planning process empowers residents to provide continuous comments and suggestions. This approach ensures that community input is dynamic and directly influences planning outcomes.

• Data-Driven Decision Making

Future of planning decisions could increasingly use real-time data insights.

Factors like traffic flow, noise pollution levels, and green space availability inform assessments of proposed developments’ impacts on the environment and communities.

This data-driven approach enhances the accuracy and relevance of planning decisions, aligning them closely with local needs and sustainability goals.

By embracing these advancements, the UK aims to create a more inclusive and responsive planning framework.

This evolution empowers communities, improves decision-making processes, and supports sustainable urban development across the country.

What’s Being Proposed?

Machine-Readable Future Planning Policies & Automated Validation

In the UK, over 450,000 planning applications are made each year, each with data-rich drawings, tables, and analysis.

However, computers cannot ‘read’ these documents. Consequently, case officers must manually review all documents, checking extension measurements against local authority policies to ensure compliance.

• If documents were machine-readable, rule-based policies could be automatically checked by computers.

• Computers could verify all measurements and run checks to ensure compliance with permitted development/planning permission rules.

• If compliant, proposals could be passed on to case officers for assessment.

• If not, computers could generate an automatic response, such as: “Your planning permission has been refused because your proposed extension is 100 millimetres too high.” This would allow adjustments without an eight-week wait for case officer feedback.

Digital Standard Template for Planning Applications

Digital standard templates would streamline the application process by requiring all documents to be submitted as specific machine-readable files.

Proposed plans could only be submitted as 3D model data files instead of scans of scale drawings. This could ensure all planning applications and associated data are contained in a single ‘planning application’ file.

Benefits of Digital Standard Templates:

• Automated Validation: Ensures the planning system is more objective and consistent.

• Instant Access/Updates: Applications could be submitted directly into a digital database accessible to planners, architects, and the general public, allowing real-time access and updates at any stage of the process.

• Community Engagement: Submitting planning applications as 3D model data files into a digital database could allow local authorities to publish an online visual map of proposed plans.

This could improve public engagement by making planning information easier to find and understand.

Since 14th May 2020, local planning authorities have temporary flexibility to use alternative methods to publicise planning applications if existing statutory publicity arrangements are unavailable.

For instance, using local online news portals if local newspapers are not circulating. This aims to support community involvement, especially during times like the coronavirus pandemic.

Long-term plans include making planning proposals available in digital neighbourhood groups and social networks.

Sustainability at the Forefront

• Focus on Sustainability: The planning process might become even more focused on encouraging sustainable development practices. Energy efficiency ratings, incorporation of renewable energy sources, and green building materials could become key considerations when evaluating applications.
• Smarter Infrastructure Planning: Planning applications could be assessed within the context of broader infrastructure needs. This could involve considering the impact on public transport, waste management, and energy networks.
• Preserving Green Spaces: The future might see a stronger emphasis on protecting and integrating green spaces into new developments. Planning applications could be evaluated based on their contribution to creating a more sustainable and healthy urban environment.

The Human Touch Endures

While technology will undoubtedly play a bigger role, the human element of planning applications is unlikely to disappear entirely. Here’s why:

• Need for Expert Analysis: The complexity of certain development projects will still require the expertise of qualified planners to assess potential impacts and ensure compliance with regulations.
• The Importance of Negotiation: Even with streamlined processes, there might still be a need for negotiation and compromise between developers, planners, and the public.
• Maintaining Local Character: Preserving the unique character of neighborhoods will likely continue to involve human judgment and consideration of the local context.

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Digital Trials for the future of Planning

Councillors at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council have given their support for the government’s digital proposals and put themselves forward to be a pilot area. Their response was approved in principle at a council meeting on the 8th October, however the council will still consider further feedback from resident associations before the deadline on the 29th October.

So going forward, we should start to see:

• The future of Planning applications submitted as data, rather than documents
• Shorter and more standardised applications
• Faster and less objective decision-making
• Online, easily accessible local plans

There will remain the option for applicants to appeal against a decision by a local planning authority. However, it is expected that with a more streamlined, rule based application process there will be fewer appeals being made.

If you have any questions about renovating, planning an extension or just about creating your dream home in general, go ahead and book a free call below with Yoop.

A Brighter Planning Horizon?

The future of planning applications is brimming with possibilities. By embracing technological advancements, fostering greater public participation, and prioritizing sustainability, the planning process has the potential to become more efficient, inclusive, and environmentally responsible. While the human touch will undoubtedly remain crucial, these advancements could pave the way for a brighter planning horizon, shaping the built environment of tomorrow.

How Yoop Architects Can Help with Future of Planning Applications

At this site, what visitors will have is an understanding that the world of planning applications evolves. Buildings have become much more complex in terms of undertaking planning applications as development authorities now tend to adopt their unique digital initiatives for improving standards of application processing or introducing much stricter measures with regard to sustainability and involve extending rights for more flexible permitted development than before. It will be important to work with the relevant professionals who understand the most recent developments regarding planning regulations.

Well, what helps people and developers alike survive through this bureaucracy smoothly and efficiently are the years of experience our professionals possess in architecture, planning, and design. And making sure that projects comply with all the legal, environmental, and aesthetic requirements but do not entail any unnecessary and costly delays.

Our Services in Future Of Planning

1. Expert Planning Advice 

Planning an in-depth examination of your project to deduce whether it is even needed to apply for planning permission. 

Counselling on the local planning policies necessary compliance with council regulations. 

Recommendations on the most favourable design approach that will improve chances of securing approval. 

The lack of evidencing complaints leads our clients to a few wrongful pitfalls, resulting in refusal or very costly amendments, but we ensure a smooth application process. 

2. Sustainable Design Solutions.

This has become a part of planning applications and may no longer be argued about. New development should take to include being energy efficient in all forms, i.e., insulation, heat recovery, and renewable energy sources. Added to having low-carbon building materials, it gets in line with both national and local sustainability goals. Eco drainage systems (SuDS) for responsibly managing rainwater runoff. Our team imbues sustainable architecture principles within their designs, making projects environmentally responsible and future-proof, thereby boosting their approval chances.

3. Help with the Digital Planning Application

In this environment where most councils are adopting digital planning systems, it becomes vital to seek help in online applications and digital submission of drawings and supporting documents. Our operations entail the following:

• Preparation and submission of applications for planning permits, whereby applications go through web-based portals.
• Preparation of high-quality architectural drawings in formats that facilitate examination by the council.
• Follow-through on all communication with local planning authorities to keep clients posted on progress and any issues that may arise.

This digital approach helps in providing relief to the clients concerning paperwork errors and faster approval.

4. Aiding Permitted Development

Many homeowners do not know about the Permitted Development Rights opportunities, which allow limited improvement works to the house that do not require full planning permission. These rights keep changing in the interest of the general welfare, and we help by:

Determining if a particular development would fall under the prohibited development.

Designing extensions, loft conversions, and outbuildings that adhere to the permit guidelines.

Preparing and submitting legal development certificates inline to confirm the legality status of a 

certain project.

With the amendments in PDR allowing more comfortable home extensions and improvements, we make sure that homeowners maximise these regulations without all the extra red tape. 

Final Thought

The future of planning applications, with efficiency, sustainability, and digital conversion at the fore, seems bright. Increasingly changing regulations and a growing body of environmental responsibility make the right architectural team necessary for a hassle-free and successful sail-through approval process. 

At Yoop Architects, we have a good level of knowledge in dealing with planning issues, ensuring that projects are designed for present and future needs. 

Want to extend or renovate your home? Call Yoop Architects for a discussion about your project and to guarantee a hassle-free planning application!