# Data center sites in the United Kingdom: demand, grid access and land

> The UK had about **1,803 MW** of live data center capacity in 2026, **91% of it in London**, after record take-up of 217 MW in 2025. The committed pipeline passed **14.6 GW** across 173 projects by September 2026. Grid access is the bottleneck: queue position now depends on readiness under Gate 2, and land suitable for a data center sells for **£8–15m an acre** against £4.5–6m for London industrial land.

Last checked 2026-10-13 · https://ampervia.com/markets/united-kingdom/

- **1,803 MW** — UK live capacity; London 1,637 MW
- **217 MW** — record take-up in 2025
- **14.6 GW** — committed pipeline, 173 projects (Sep 2026)
- **£8–15m / acre** — data-center-suitable land vs £4.5–6m London industrial

## What buyers ask for here

| Who | Where | Size | What they buy | Written |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| European operator, M&A team | London (with Frankfurt, Paris) | ~100 MVA ideal; smaller only inside established clusters | Brownfield | Jul 2026 |
| European operator, development team | UK (with France, Germany) | ≥40 MVA in Tier 1–2 markets; ≥200 MVA elsewhere | Brownfield | Jul 2026 |
| Infrastructure fund | UK (with German Tier-2 cities) | Platform-scale | Greenfield powered land | Jul 2026 |

A London data center capital-markets advisor has also offered to take powered sites to operators under NDA. Anonymised; stated requirements, not commitments to buy a specific site.

## Where sites come from

Brownfield and greenfield sites with planning in prospect; London and the M4 corridor hold most live capacity, while the largest new schemes are in the North East and Scotland.

## How the power is won

Under the connections reform, a project keeps its queue place by showing readiness, including exclusive land rights and planning status (Gate 2). Gate 2 Phase 1 offers slipped: Ofgem agreed in September 2026 to extend the deadline to 31 October 2026. Government calls grid connection the single biggest blocker for AI Growth Zones.

## Planning and regulation

AI Growth Zones combine planning support with work on grid connections for selected sites; elsewhere, local planning and the Gate 2 readiness tests set the pace.

## Land and price benchmarks

Savills figures reported by Reuters: £4.5–6m an acre for London industrial land, £8–15m for land suitable for a data center. Colliers reports powered land selling at up to 2.5 times other industrial land.

## Sources

- [Savills UK — London's gravity, hyperscale volatility and the next constraint (2026)](https://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/229130/391922-0)
- [Computer Weekly — UK committed datacentre pipeline grows to more than 14GW (8 Sep 2026)](https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366650192/UK-committed-datacentre-pipeline-grows-to-more-than-14GW)
- [Reuters — Powered land and zombie projects: real estate in the age of AI (24 Apr 2026; Savills and Colliers figures)](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/powered-land-zombie-projects-real-estate-age-ai-2026-04-24/)
- [Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer — UK grid connections reform: impact on data centres (Jul 2026)](https://www.hsfkramer.com/insights/2026-07/uk-grid-connections-reform)
- [Ofgem — agreement to a further timetable revision for Gate 2 Phase 1 offers (25 Sep 2026, PDF)](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-10/Ofgem-agreement-for-revision-to-G2TWQ-timetable.pdf)
- [GOV.UK — Delivering AI Growth Zones (13 Nov 2025)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-ai-growth-zones/delivering-ai-growth-zones)