Milton Keynes City Council has cut average planning determination times by nearly a fifth (18%) after using artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline one of the biggest bottlenecks in the planning process.
Working with British planning technology company Valon, the council reduced average determination times by 18 days by using AI to support planning validation and other high-volume administrative tasks, helping planning officers process applications more efficiently.
The technology validates applications, checks planning requirements and identifies missing information before applications reach the decision-making stage, reducing paperwork and freeing planning officers to spend more time assessing applications.
Improvements come at a critical time for Milton Keynes. As one of the UK’s fastest-growing cities, it is expected to deliver around 60,000 new homes by 2050 while processing more than 1,700 planning applications each year. Improving the speed and efficiency of the planning process will be essential to supporting that growth.
Paul Thomas, Director of Planning at Milton Keynes City Council, said: “Milton Keynes has always punched above its weight – but as a new town we’ve not always been given credit for it. Part of changing that perception is showing that we operate with more rigour and ambition than any other major UK city. That means investing in the right tools, the right teams, and the right partnerships.
“Like many councils, Milton Keynes has been exploring how technology can transform our planning teams. The results of this work have been encouraging, particularly in freeing up officer time and improving the speed at which applications move through the system.
“While there is no single solution to the wider challenges facing planning departments, initiatives like Valon could become an important part of how councils modernise services and support our growth ambitions.”
Jack Reeves, Co-Founder of Valon, said: “Planning officers are under growing pressure to process more applications with limited resources, yet too much time is still spent on repetitive administrative work rather than assessing development proposals.
“AI is not about replacing planners – it’s about giving them more time to do what only they can do. By automating routine validation tasks, councils can improve efficiency, reduce delays and help planning officers focus on making better, faster decisions.
“Milton Keynes shows how technology can help modernise planning services in a practical and responsible way. As councils face increasing pressure to deliver new homes, improving planning productivity will be an important part of the solution.”
Planning departments across England continue to face mounting pressure to support the Government’s ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes. Government figures show only around one in five major planning applications are determined within the statutory 13-week target.
As councils across England look to increase housing delivery while managing growing workloads, Milton Keynes’ experience offers an early example of how AI can help modernise planning services, improve productivity and free planning officers to focus on making planning decisions.
