Geovation, an Ordnance Survey initiative, in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) Digital Planning Programme has announced the launch of a new £1.2m PropTech Innovation Challenge.
Through this new initiative, Geovation said it will act as a strategic partner to broaden the scope of the Digital Planning Programme’s current PropTech Innovation Fund, identifying new opportunities in housing delivery that could benefit from innovative technology. This is set to support the government’s target to build 1.5m homes during this Parliament.
The challenge aims to leverage and accelerate PropTech adoption, it noted, helping to evolve the market and foster a new supply-side ecosystem for the sector.
Founded in 2021, the PropTech Innovation Fund has delivered 114 pilot projects across 77 local planning authorities (LPAs), in partnership with more than 50 PropTech companies. According to a statement, it was set up to accelerate the adoption of digital tools and solutions, and has revolutionised processes such as community engagement, 3D mapping and digital twins, biodiversity net gain, cross-district planning and site assessment.
The focus of this new PropTech Innovation Challenge is to test and validate how PropTech can serve as a catalyst in supporting the government’s home-building target through digital and scalable solutions, the statement added.
The PropTech Innovation Challenge is now open for applicants to register their interest and will run as a 12-month programme. The statement said that through collaboration with policy colleagues, a series of challenge propositions will be identified and developed, focusing on a maximum of five priority problem statements.
Milan Bogunovic, digital planning programme director at MHCLG, said: “By leveraging both the PropTech Innovation Fund and the Geovation Innovation Services, we are bringing together stakeholders from local government, the development industry, academia and the tech sector to incorporate the broadest possible range of user needs and insights.
“Our ultimate goal is to develop robust, scalable solutions, which will help deliver the government’s target of 1.5m new homes, while creating a thriving supply-side ecosystem for PropTech, that will continue to grow for many years to come.”
The £1.2m fund will support up to 12 PropTech projects, with no restriction on the size, scale or remit for successful companies; as long as they are registered in the UK.
The statement added that applicants will be encouraged to build on the existing insights and resources from the Digital Planning Programme to accelerate delivery. This includes leveraging MHCLG’s Planning Data Platform which provides valuable planning datasets to support innovative solutions.
Ash Wheeler, chief product officer at Ordnance Survey, added: “We are thrilled to partner with MHCLG to launch this exciting challenge. Geovation exists to catalyse innovation in location understanding, helping start-ups bring new solutions to the challenges facing modern-day Britain.
“This initiative will not only accelerate change and unlock the delivery of new housing but also foster greater collaboration across the industry. We look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that will emerge from this challenge and how they will support sustainable development and deliver positive impacts for communities.”
