Pre-check a home extension or conservatory planning application the way councils now do with AI: have an AI list the documents required, flag heritage and tree constraints and the local policies that apply, and look at past objections nearby, before you submit: AI agent prompt
Routine householder planning applications (extensions, loft conversions, conservatories) can wait weeks and get sent back for missing documents. On Oct 31, 2026, Google DeepMind said PlanAssist, an AI tool built with Gemini alongside the UK government, Google Cloud and Faculty, is expanding from Barnet, Camden and Dorset to 15 English councils for a 12-month beta. It checks that required documents and drawings were submitted, checks the application against heritage constraints such as tree preservation orders and local and national policies, looks at earlier issues or objections, and drafts a cited report that a planning officer edits and decides on. DeepMind says pilots cut officers' assessment time by up to 58% and over 70% of its reports were approved with no edits. Homeowners, investors and agents advising buyers can run the same checklist on their own application first with any AI assistant. It isn't planning advice; confirm with the council or a planning consultant.
The prompt
1. Collect your draft application: description of the work, site plan, drawings with dimensions, and photos. 2. Download your council's validation checklist for householder applications and its local plan or design guide pages for extensions. Note if the property is in a conservation area, is listed, or has protected trees nearby (check the council map). 3. Upload everything to ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask: "Using only these documents, list every item the validation checklist requires and say whether my application includes it. Mark anything missing." 4. Ask: "Which local and national policies in these documents apply to this extension (height, depth, distance to boundary, materials, overlooking)? For each, quote the policy, say whether my plans seem to comply, and give the page." 5. Look up past applications on nearby addresses on the council's planning portal, paste the decision notices and objections, and ask: "What issues came up most often and does my plan raise any of them?" 6. Fix the gaps, then confirm anything uncertain with the council's planning team or a planning consultant before you submit.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt above.
- Replace every [bracket] with your own details (or fill in the blanks on AgentPlaybook Real Estate, which remembers your answers for the next prompt).
- Paste it into PlanAssist (councils), ChatGPT, Claude and review the answer before you use it.
Works with: PlanAssist (councils), ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, your council's planning portal
Real-world example: deepmind.google/blog/speeding-up-planning-decisions-with-ai/
Featured in: Free AI agent prompts for small business (beginner-friendly) · AI prompts for writing SOPs, reports, policies and checklists
Before you use it: what to check
Already built into this prompt
- Fix the gaps, then confirm anything uncertain with the council's planning team or a planning consultant before you submit.
Check yourself
- Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes.
- Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings.
- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
Using an AI agent? Download this prompt as a SKILL.md agent skill with these checks built in, or get the .zip for Claude.ai. How to install skills.
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