MHCLG Digital

What MHCLG Digital does

MHCLG Digital is the digital and data directorate within the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), operating since 2018 under Chief Digital and Information Officer Gill Stewart with a team of approximately 20 staff. It functions as the central government unit responsible for modernising England's planning system, improving housing delivery, and supporting digital and data capability across local councils and the 300+ local planning authorities (LPAs) in England. The directorate operates within the Government Digital and Data community and is not a commercial entity.

Its core product portfolio is built around AI and data services. Flagship offerings include Extract, an AI tool that converts historic planning documents (Conservation Areas, Article 4 Directions, Tree Preservation Orders) into structured data in roughly two minutes per document; an AI Planning Prototype developed with Google DeepMind and Faculty to assist officers processing householder planning applications; the Local AI programme (with Local Transcribe and an AI Case Workspace proof-of-concept) targeting homelessness and temporary accommodation services; Open Data Communities and Get Energy Performance of Buildings Data, which publish national datasets using CSV on the Web standards; and the PropTech Innovation Fund, which in Round 6 distributed £2.4 million across 11 consortia. Underpinning this is an in-house AI Lab experimenting with geospatial foundation models and image embeddings for land classification and change detection.

The business model is direct government funding through the MHCLG budget, with no commercial revenue generation. All tools are provided free of charge to eligible UK public sector bodies, and grant funding is distributed outward to councils and PropTech consortia. Distribution relies on the GOV.UK platform, formal partnerships with the Local Government Association, the Open Digital Planning network, DSIT's Incubator for AI, and external partners including Google DeepMind, Faculty, and PUBLIC. Customers are exclusively UK local authorities and government stakeholders, with 50 LPAs actively using Extract and 60 councils engaged via Local AI drop-in sessions as of mid-2026.

Name

MHCLG Digital

Legal name

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Website

https://mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk

Company type

Public

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MHCLG Digital is the digital and data directorate of the UK's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, building AI-powered planning, data, and local government tools for England's 300+ local planning authorities and councils.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector Planning Software

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (9251), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Data Platforms & Modern Data Stack Services (Lakehouse, DW, MDM) (BPAEAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Enterprise Application Data Migration & Master Data Management Services (BPAEAGAJ)

Keywords

• Government digital services
• Planning technology
• Public sector software
• Data platforms
• AI prototyping

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: MHCLG Digital is funded through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government annual budget allocated by the UK government. No commercial revenue generation.
2. Grant Distribution: The department distributes grant funding to support digital transformation in local government, including £2.4 million in PropTech Innovation Fund Round 6 grants to consortia of technology companies and planning authorities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

MHCLG Digital is the digital and data function within the UK's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It builds and maintains free digital tools, AI prototypes, and data platforms used by local planning authorities and councils across England to support planning, housing, land use, and public engagement workflows.

Product overview

MHCLG Digital operates as a central government digital transformation unit offering a portfolio of AI-powered tools, data platforms, and internal services. The portfolio includes Extract (AI-powered planning document extraction) and the AI Planning Prototype (with Google DeepMind and Faculty) for planning efficiency; the Local AI Programme with Local Transcribe for local government; Open Data Communities and Get Energy Performance of Buildings Data for open data; Managing Local Conversations (MLC) for internal engagement management; GovPrint for secure cross-government printing; and the PropTech Innovation Fund supporting housing sector innovation. The AI Lab conducts geospatial AI experimentation using satellite imagery embeddings. These products work together to support digital transformation across housing, planning, and local government.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Local AI: A programme working with councils and the Local Government Association to support responsible AI adoption in local government
• AI Lab
• Digital Planning Programme
• Digital Connect
• Open Data Communities
• Extract
• GovPrint
• Local Transcribe
• Managing Local Conversations (MLC)
• PropTech Innovation Fund

Products and services

• Extract

Quantifiable outcome

• Planning document processing reduced from up to 2 hours to approximately 2 minutes
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability11 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Local Government Association (LGA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 July 2026MHCLG providing grant funding to LGA to co-deliver resources, practical guidance, and tools including an AI playbook for local government, standard assessment templates, and expansion of the AI network into a community of practice.
• Google DeepMindcoreTechnology or Integration · 19 June 2026Partnership to develop AI planning prototype that helps officers process householder planning applications faster by analysing applications, identifying relevant policies and constraints, and supporting decision-making while maintaining human oversight.
• FacultycoreTechnology or Integration · 19 June 2026AI firm selected alongside Google DeepMind to develop AI planning prototype through competitive procurement process where bidders were required to build working prototypes as part of their tender.
• Incubator for AI (i.AI) at DSITcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026i.AI is the AI experimentation unit within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. They partnered with MHCLG's Digital Planning Programme to develop Extract and the AI planning prototype. i.AI conducted extensive user research with 34 LPAs and published evaluation reports.
• PUBLIC (public.io)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDelivery partner for PropTech Innovation Fund Round 6, conducting discovery phase and managing the £2.4 million grant programme across 11 consortiums of PropTech companies and planning authorities.
• Open Digital Planning (ODP)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of forward-thinking councils transforming planning services. ODP community managers played vital role in building trust and enthusiasm for Extract among councils, facilitating 34 LPAs to participate in testing.
• ImagominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in geospatial embeddings research alongside Homes England and government spatial data science networks, investigating potential of embeddings to accelerate satellite technology adoption.
• Homes EnglandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment housing delivery agency partnering with MHCLG AI Lab on geospatial embeddings research to support land identification and planning objectives.
• Government Property Agency (GPA)coreTechnology or IntegrationGPA manages and delivers GovPrint, a cross-government cloud-based printing service. MHCLG deployed GovPrint across 18 locations as a shared service that reduces costs and supports sustainability.
• Planning InspectoratecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking with experts including the Planning Inspectorate to ensure AI planning prototype handles policy, precedent, and constraint information correctly and transparently while complying with planning legislation.
• Government Digital Service (GDS)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGDS content designers reviewed, pair wrote, and fact checked Renters' Rights Act guidance alongside MHCLG policy teams to ensure consistency with mainstream GOV.UK pages.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Strengths5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mhclgdigital
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mhclg-digital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MHCLG Digital