1. Purpose and Context

The roundtable was convened to explore how the UK’s planning system can be modernised to meet the scale and speed required for national regeneration and housing delivery. Despite strong political will and clear demand, planning remains one of the greatest barriers to investment and development.

Participants discussed how digital tools, data integration and governance reform could help reduce planning delays, de-risk investment and improve outcomes for communities. The session also looked at how policy, finance and local decision-making can evolve together, ensuring that any policy changes would deliver for both the public and private sectors.

The session brought together Parliament, planners, technology companies & innovators, developers, investors, legal experts and built environment leaders to examine three linked questions:

• Why planning remains one of the biggest barriers to growth, despite clear political intent and capital ready to invest.

• How digital tools, data and governance reform could make planning faster, more transparent and more predictable.

• What policy and leadership changes are needed to turn planning from a regulatory hurdle into an enabler of regeneration and national delivery.

2. Attendees

Parliament & Government

Lord Gary Porter CBE – House of Lords

Lord Graham Evans – House of Lords

Sureena Brackenridge MP – House of Commons

Finance & Investment

Homes England – Ruth McCarthy

BNP Paribas Real Estate – Tom Stanley 

Barclays Bank – Zoe Lamb

Loan Markets Association – Natalie Sinha

UKRI – Melissa Zanocco OBE 

Technology Companies

Elixr – Catalina Valentino

Elixr – Joseph Michael Daniels

MetaConnex – Ashley Dunseath

Legal & Advisory

Pinsent Masons – Tom Johnson

Pinsent Masons – Richard Ford

Pinsent Masons – Dr Sue Chadwick

Developers and Industry 

City of London Corporation – Nikki Webber

Moda Living – James Blakey

The King’s Foundation – Tom Perry

Untypical Group – Simon Gilbert 

S&C Architects – Simon Coles

3. Key Discussion Themes

A. Planning Reform and Digital Integration

Participants agreed that while the planning system is central to delivering national growth, it remains slow, fragmented and reliant on outdated processes. As Lord Porter CBE noted, despite decades of effort, “not a lot has changed” the UK still relies on PDFs and paper submissions in the 21st century.

There was broad consensus that the sector needs industry-wide standards for digital planning data and the use of tools such as digital twins. Nikki Webber (City of London Corporation) highlighted that despite developers creating sophisticated 3D models, local authorities still receive static PDFs, losing critical data.

Sue Chadwick (Pinsent Masons) noted that many of the solutions are not technical but governance-based and could be small levers with big impact such as clarifying how local authorities can safely adopt AI and automation tools without legal risk. She called for immediate policy changes, such as updating NPPG guidance to allow planning officers to use AI tools to summarise documents, saving hours per week across councils.

Ruth McCarthy (Homes England) reinforced that resourcing and manpower shortages in planning departments are now a critical barrier to progress, adding that the agency’s limited budget means prioritisation is inevitable: “We would like to invest in more places, but the resources simply aren’t there.”

B. Finance, Investment and Delivery

The discussion turned to the relationship between planning delays, investment risk and delivery confidence. Developers and investors warned that the current system makes schemes too expensive and uncertain to finance, even where capital exists.

James Blakey (Moda Living) stated: “Access to money isn’t the problem. employing it is. Over-regulation and delay make it too expensive to deliver, even when demand is huge.”

Zoe Lamb (Barclays) echoed the need to connect planning and finance frameworks, noting that sustainable lending products and transition finance are hindered by slow, inconsistent planning data. Natalie Sinha (Loan Markets Association) added that large infrastructure and mid-market funds are ready to invest, but need certainty, speed and clear digital evidence to assess risk.

Simon Gilbert (private developer) pointed out that viability is collapsing under cumulative policy burdens: “Planning is the biggest risk on the balance sheet. You can’t industrialise a market on speculation.”

C. Governance, Leadership and Accountability

A recurring theme was fear of liability where officers and chief executives hesitate to approve innovative or non-standard approaches. Ashley Dunseath (MetaConnex) and Lord Porter CBE discussed how accountability structures discourage innovation, as individuals fear blame if outcomes fail.

Lord Porter CBE commented that political leadership is key: “Chief Executives don’t take the hit politicians do. You need leaders willing to say, ‘We’ll take the risk to do things differently.’”

Attendees agreed that creating a safe framework for innovation through clear regulation, data standards, and early digital demonstration projects would help local authorities adopt new tools confidently and accelerate decision-making.

4. Policy Implications Identified

• Digitise planning data and submissions across all authorities, replacing PDFs with structured, machine-readable formats.

• Establish national standards for digital twins, planning application data and decision data to ensure consistency and interoperability.

• Enable safe AI adoption within planning (via explicit NPPG or DLUHC guidance) to support local authority capacity.

• Align planning and finance frameworks so sustainability data and transition finance can operate in parallel.

• Empower local authorities through stronger leadership frameworks and clear accountability protections when trialling innovation.

5. Next Steps

1. Elixr to coordinate the drafting of a Smart Planning Whitepaper, summarising policy, governance and finance recommendations.  

2. The paper will be presented through the APPG on Smart Towns & Regions (Q1 2026) to feed directly into ongoing planning reform discussions.

3. Pinsent Masons and MetaConnex to support the development of policy proposals on digital standards, AI guidance, and pilot frameworks for local authorities.

4. Participants will be invited to contribute evidence, case studies and recommendations for the whitepaper and forthcoming APPG planning session.

6. Supporting Materials Upon Request 

MetaConnex Smart Planning Overview Deck
Pinsent Masons Planning & Digital Articles

Digital Planning Reform - MHCLG

APPG Policy Session Invitation (Q1 2026)