Digitising Local Plan Examinations: Unlocking the UK's 1.5 Million Homes Target

Dominic Stone and Tom Neve

10 minutes ago

3 min read

Digitising Local Plan Examinations: Unlocking the UK's 1.5 Million Homes Target By By Dominic Stone and Tom Neve — Digitising Local Plan Examinations: Unlocking the UK's 1.5 Million Homes Target By *By Dominic Stone and Tom Neve*

To support the UK Government's mandate to deliver 1.5 million homes by the end of 2029, the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) is modernising the Local Plans examination process. Solirius Reply, alongside PINS is currently delivering the Beta phase of a centralised digital service designed to compress examination timelines from 93 weeks to 31 weeks, while building a real-time data engine to support future policy iteration.

Introduction

Local Plans are the structural backbone of housing in the UK. They determine where homes, infrastructure and commercial space can and cannot be built. Without an adopted plan, local development grinds to a halt.

Historically, Local Plan examinations have taken a median of 93 weeks (over 21 months), largely due to paper-heavy submissions and fragmented manual workflows. To unlock development and meet national housing targets, the examination process needs to move faster.

Background

In alignment with PINS' overarching digital strategy, Solirius Reply has partnered with the Inspectorate and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to deliver a comprehensive digital transformation. The new service shifts Local Plan examinations from a legacy process into an integrated, data-driven service.

What We Are Doing

Having proven the concept through Discovery and Alpha, we're now building out the full solution in Beta, using agile, human-centred methods to turn regulatory requirements into working digital features:

Structured Data Capture: Replacing email attachments with machine-readable digital entries, so Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) submit precisely what's required.
Pre-Submission Gateways: Inspector-led gateways, aligned with new MHCLG policy, that catch procedural errors early and help avoid costly plan pauses.
Dynamic Inspector Tooling: Connecting timetable and resource data tools to enable real-time workload planning and dynamic case management for inspectors.

Architecture diagram of the Submit Development Plans Service, showing LPA users accessing Front Office stages (Gateway 2, Gateway 3, Examination) and Case Officers and Inspectors accessing Back Office functions (Create, Manage, Assess a case), connected to GOV.UK Notify and an Operational Data Warehouse. — Overview of user interactions and data flow across the Front Office and Back Office of the Submit Development Plans Service.

Tools or Methods

User-Centred Design (UCD): Ongoing research with PINS operations teams, Inspectors and LPAs to keep user journeys intuitive.
Iterative Beta Delivery: Translating complex planning regulation and new policy gateways into flexible digital features, guided by data at every iteration.
Cross-Stakeholder Collaboration: Working closely across the wider Local Plans reform landscape, including MHCLG policy and digital teams, to keep the service aligned with evolving national planning reform.

What We Are Learning

A Data-Driven Feedback Engine: Moving to a digital service creates a live feedback loop. Structured operational data lets PINS and MHCLG quantify the real-world impact of policy changes and iterate policy and service features accordingly.
Standardisation Drives Efficiency: Removing unstructured submissions reduces preparation overhead for Inspectors and brings clarity for all stakeholders.

Impact & Projected Targets

Timeline Compression: Reducing examination times to approximately 31 weeks accelerates plan adoption, unblocking sites for developers and local communities.
Uniform User Experience: A standardised examination journey brings transparency and clarity to LPAs, inspectors, developers and the public alike.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Lower cost per case and fewer expensive plan pauses or withdrawals deliver better value for local authorities and taxpayers.

Next Steps

Looking ahead, the focus is on continuing Beta delivery and testing the service with real world users through a pilot, ahead of an expected go live date in early 2027. This phased approach allows us to validate the service with the people who'll actually use it before wider rollout, while continuing to build the digital infrastructure needed to meet national housing goals.