We’re pleased to share that UK Planning Gateway has been selected for Cohort 21 of the Geovation Accelerator Programme.

Geovation is the home of location and property innovation, backed by Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry. The six-month programme gives early-stage teams targeted support, access to data and expertise, and a community of founders working on practical problems in planning, housing, biodiversity and transport.

For us, the fit is natural. Our platform helps people submit planning applications with less friction and fewer mistakes. Homeowners get a guided pathway that replaces guesswork with clear steps. Professionals get tools to manage and validate applications at scale. We use AI to check documents and forms against council requirements, and we ground those checks in authoritative geospatial data, including OS mapping and HMLR title information. AskArchi, our built-in assistant, gives applicants context-aware guidance as they draft proposals and prepare submissions.

Why this matters

Planning is full of small uncertainties that cost time. Is the red line correct. Does the site boundary match the title. Are the drawing names acceptable to the receiving authority. Has the right fee been calculated. Are the local validation requirements covered. These details are routine, yet they create repeat delays for applicants and officers alike.

Through Geovation, we will sharpen three pillars of the platform:

• Stronger geospatial foundations

  We will deepen how we use OS base mapping, UPRNs and addressing, and HMLR title polygons to anchor every application to a reliable location record. That means clearer site identification, cleaner red lines and fewer avoidable queries later.

• Smarter validation

  We will continue to expand our rules engine for council-specific checks. The goal is simple. Flag issues early, suggest fixes, and produce applications that meet local lists first time. That includes fee logic, document naming, drawing scales and common missing items.

• Smoother submissions

  We’re building the end-to-end path from first idea to validated submission. That includes guided form filling, automatic document generation for cover letters and statements, large-file handling, and consistent packaging that lands cleanly with councils.

What we’ll do during the programme

The Accelerator pairs workshops with one-to-one support across customer research, technology choices, business model, IP and funding readiness. Over the next six months we will:

• Run structured tests with architects and planning consultants to tighten the workflow for real practices.
• Extend our council profiles and validation rules, starting with partners who want to reduce invalidation rates.
• Improve AskArchi’s guidance so applicants get precise, local context rather than generic advice.
• Strengthen our mapping and addressing pipeline, using OS and HMLR data to remove ambiguity from site setup.
• Prepare for wider beta, with clear metrics on accuracy, speed and successful first-time validation.

Gratitude and collaboration

Thank you to the Geovation team, Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry for the vote of confidence and the opportunity to learn from an experienced network. We’re also grateful to the early users who have pushed us to make the product simpler and more exacting. Your feedback shapes the roadmap.

Read the article here:

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/news/geovation-welcomes-21st-accelerator-cohort

Get involved

We’re opening a focused beta with architects and planning consultants who handle frequent householder and minor applications. If you’d like early access, feature input and a say in council integrations, join the waitlist at planninggateway.co.uk/waitlist. Councils interested in reducing invalidation and improving submission quality can contact us to explore a pilot.

This is a proud step for a Birmingham-based team building a practical tool for a very practical process. With Geovation’s support, we aim to help more people submit accurate, compliant applications the first time, and help officers spend less time chasing small fixes and more time on planning.