In a recent episode of The Proptech Hot Seat on iProperty Radio, Proptech Ireland founder Carol Tallon chatted with Bridget Wilkins, Head of Adoption, Engagement and Innovation in Digital Planning at the UK’s Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). This discussion delves into one of the UK government’s most progressive and results-driven digital planning strategies—might this provide a blueprint for innovation in Ireland’s own housing and planning system?
Since its inception in late 2021, Bridget and her team have spearheaded a national push to embed innovation within the planning system through the PropTech Innovation Fund. Initially created to support 45 pilots, the fund has more than doubled its ambition—supporting 107 pilots across 77 local planning authorities (LPAs).
Ireland-based proptech innovators and housing delivery policy-makers will likely be interested to understand how the UK government partners with the proptech and digital planning sectors to drive measurable housing outcomes.
This commitment has recently been ramped up through the latest PropTech Innovation Challenge, launched by Geovation in partnership with MHCLG, which aims to accelerate the delivery of 1.5 million homes in England by harnessing scalable proptech solutions. With a targeted annual housing delivery of 300,000 homes, this programme is designed not as a speculative tech initiative, but as a catalytic delivery vehicle with built-in public-private collaboration.
Up to 12 companies will share in £1.2 million in funding to develop their solutions by February 2026, working directly with local planning authorities, housing associations, and industry partners. The response to the initial Expression of Interest (EOI) phase was overwhelming—over 100 pre-applications were received, highlighting the appetite among innovators to tackle the housing crisis head-on.
Through deep research and consultation—including interviews, workshops, and expert forums—the MHCLG identified three priority focus areas for scalable innovation:
- Unlocking access to land ownership and data
- Streamlining the planning and development of small sites
- De-risking projects for private and public stakeholders alike
Collectively, these challenges are designed to unlock the development potential of more than 320,000 small sites across England and Wales, an untapped resource that could enable quicker, more affordable, and community-aligned housing delivery—particularly by SMEs, housing associations, and local groups. This aligns with sustainable construction principles and supports innovation in site assembly, modular building, and planning automation.
The significance of this for Ireland cannot be overstated. Ireland faces many of the same challenges: a fragmented proptech ecosystem, planning bottlenecks, underused land, and a persistent gap between policy ambition and delivery on the ground. Yet, unlike the UK, Ireland lacks a centralised mechanism to support early-stage innovators and local authorities to collaborate on practical solutions at scale.
Bridget points to the broader infrastructure supporting innovation in the UK—from the Digital Planning Directory [https://digitalplanningdirectory.org/resources/ai-insights-live-case-studies-in-local-planning-authorities-livestream/] to the PropTech Theory of Change, from toolkits and ROI frameworks to formal partnerships with the UK PropTech Association and the Digital Task Force for Planning. These are not simply good ideas; they are mechanisms that de-risk adoption, speed up procurement, and create confidence in using technology to deliver tangible housing outcomes.
As emerges throughout the interview, systemic barriers still exist, but the UK’s approach is changing the status quo. Proptech is no longer viewed as peripheral—it’s now central to policy implementation, housing strategy, and place-based outcomes.
*Ireland-based proptech innovators are encouraged to update your details https://prop-tech.ie/register/
For Ireland, this is the opportunity: to learn from a working model, to fund innovation with intent, and to bridge the divide between vision and delivery. A similar innovation challenge—focusing on regional and innovator-led housing solutions, small site development, and digital engagement—could be genuinely game-changing.
As the UK invites a new round of innovators to participate in the PropTech Innovation Challenge, the message is clear: public sector transformation is possible, but it starts with real partnerships, defined outcomes, and the courage to experiment.
📢 The PropTech Innovation Challenge is now open for submissions. For more information on the problem statements, eligibility, and application process, visit Geovation PropTech Challenge.
Digital Planning Directory: A comprehensive online resource for state-of-the-art digital planning services, tailored to meet the diverse needs of stakeholders in both public and private sectors. https://digitalplanningdirectory.org/resources/ai-insights-live-case-studies-in-local-planning-authorities-livestream/
🎧 Listen back or watch the full interview with Bridget Wilkins on The Proptech Hot Seat, iProperty Radio available now on https://youtu.be/ccOhaWrUElE?si=RNNgOGH45FVk5gHW
