Proptech is essential to future of planning, says MHCLG digital chief

Proptech is an essential part of the future of planning and of “keen interest” to government ministers to help “improve the political legitimacy” of decisions, MHCLG’s digital chief said. MHCLG chief digital officer Paul Maltby said the proptech market is a “fascinating” emerging global market, and is seen in government as an “important part of how we see the world go forward”. Speaking about the government’s perspective of the planning system at an event hosted by Landmark Information, Maltby explained that the government is looking to introduce tech into the planning process in several ways: to boost community engagement; to make local plans and planning rules more digitally accessible; and to increase adoption of tech within planning authorities. He said the people who do engage in planning consultations are “not [from] the broadest selection of the population”, and there is “keen interest we see from ministers and the system more broadly to improve the political legitimacy of some of those decisions”. He said planning is “always going to be a controversial area” but proptech can help make judgments to “not be at the mercy of broad ambiguous debate”. Covid-19 has helped to accelerate the digitalisation of the planning process, meaning that more councils are engaging in a “more modern way” of hosting sessions online, he added. His views come following the government’s planning reforms in August, which aim to establish a simpler, faster system. The proposals included scrapping the need for applications for up to 150 homes and speeding up the publication of local plans. To send feedback, e-mail lucy.alderson@egi.co.uk or tweet @LucyAJourno or @estatesgazette