Smarter digital tools like Ask Navi are helping homeowners personalise like never before

Across the UK, we are seeing a growing demand for bespoke products and services. Housing, it turns out, is no different.

Increasingly, homeowners are seeking to design, adapt and personalise their living spaces to reflect how they actually live, and just as with any other consumer sector, expectations are shifting towards individuality, flexibility and control.

Last year, Planning Portal, the national planning application service for England and Wales, processing over 95% of applications, recorded its highest number of self and custom build submissions in the last five years by quite some margin. The application type has been steadily on the rise, but in 2025 submissions surged by roughly 33% year-on-year, pushing the total submitted to nearly 10,000.

Property owners increasingly want personalisation, whether that’s building their own homes or renovating existing ones. More people in the UK are choosing to design or commission bespoke properties built around their specific needs, and the scale of this recent increase marks a notable step change.

But how did we get here? What part does technology have to play? And what could AI-powered tools mean for the next generation of self-builders?

From Pinterest boards to tailored guidance – how tech is reshaping our design expectations

The growing appetite for custom builds can be attributed to several factors, but underpinning all of them is the rise of technology. The online world now shapes consumer expectations like never before, with social media platforms providing near-limitless inspirational content and fuelling trends at a pace that keeps homeowners constantly reimagining what’s possible.

Tailored planning guidance is also more readily available than ever, with tools such as Planning Portal’s Interactive House giving homeowners a straightforward, interactive way to understand the rules around common home improvements, as well as the Planning Guidance Service, which connects users with experienced planners for one-to-one advice.

The growth of self-build reflects wider cultural priorities, giving people the chance to create homes that are eco-ready, designed around modern life and changing needs, including the rise of working from home. Advice on, and examples of, how to optimise for these priorities are also increasingly accessible online.

How is AI influencing your self-build?

Unsurprisingly, the arrival of AI in recent years has amplified this appetite for bespoke homes. Large Language Models have fundamentally changed how people access information online.

Gone are the days of extensive research and discovery. Now, when consumers go looking for answers, they ask AI, expecting responses tailored to their specific requirements.

Homeowners, renovators, and self-builders, therefore, are not only more exposed to options, trends, and ideas than ever before but also have access to readily available, tailored guidance that makes planning for self-build projects easier and faster.

Unfortunately, in regulated processes such as planning, inaccurate or overly generic advice can lead to costly delays, rejected applications, or non-compliant designs. For anyone who has invested their savings, their time, and their heart into a project, that’s a risk that can cause a lot of stress.

There are increasing reports of planning blunders stemming from over-reliance on advice supplied by non-specialist AI models. AI can empower homeowners, renovators, and self-builders, but only if it is drawing on correct and accurate data.

Why specialist advice matters

Generic large language models are trained on vast data sets. This means that when asked for specialist guidance, they can produce inaccurate or incomplete information. These generic systems, therefore, are not reliable sources of information for legally sensitive processes such as planning.

That’s where Planning Portal’s new planning-specific AI tool, Ask Navi, comes in. Ask Navi is the UK’s first conversational planning guidance feature, trained exclusively on authoritative Planning Portal content and national planning policy. It allows homeowners to ask questions and receive real-time, reliable guidance to understand what’s required – whether they’re exploring permitted development or preparing a planning application.

Crucially, it is designed not just to answer questions, but to support better outcomes, helping applicants feel more confident, prepare more complete submissions, and avoid common pitfalls earlier in the process.

AI-powered guidance is undoubtedly fuelling the self-build boom – but without specialist, planning-specific tools, there’s a real risk of misinformation and missteps.

Innovations such as Ask Navi could prove game-changing in supporting the next generation of renovators and self-builders as they navigate the journey to creating their dream homes.

Empowering self-builders and renovators through smarter tech

As the demand for personalised homes continues to grow, so too does the need for clear, accurate, and accessible planning guidance. Technology, and increasingly AI, is playing a central role in shaping both homeowners’ appetite for and approach to renovation projects, but trust and reliability must underpin this.

Ensuring renovators and self-builders can draw on expert advice to correctly contextualise their ideas, understand what’s required, and feel confident innovating will be key to ensuring the self-build boom is not only successful, but sustained.