By Razvan Toma · Founder & CEO, Ampervia · Last checked 2026-10-13 · Sources linked below
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. Sources (3)Savills UKSavills UK — London's gravity, hyperscale volatility and the next constraint (2026)↗Computer WeeklyComputer Weekly — UK committed datacentre pipeline grows to more than 14GW (8 Sep 2026)↗ReutersReuters — Powered land and zombie projects: real estate in the age of AI (24 Apr 2026; Savills and Colliers figures)↗
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. Computer Weekly
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. Sources (3)Herbert Smith Freehills KramHerbert Smith Freehills Kramer — UK grid connections reform: impact on data centres (Jul 2026)↗OfgemOfgem — agreement to a further timetable revision for Gate 2 Phase 1 offers (25 Sep 2026, PDF)↗GOV.UKGOV.UK — Delivering AI Growth Zones (13 Nov 2025)↗
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. Sources (2)GOV.UKGOV.UK — Delivering AI Growth Zones (13 Nov 2025)↗Herbert Smith Freehills KramHerbert Smith Freehills Kramer — UK grid connections reform: impact on data centres (Jul 2026)↗
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. Reuters
Precedents in United Kingdom
- Didcot, UK: planning permission on a former power station, then a sale to a hyperscaler — Completed sale
Data and rules
Sources
Savills UKComputer WeeklyReutersHerbert Smith Freehills KramOfgemGOV.UK
Last checked 2026-10-13. Aggregates and anonymised requirements only; no candidate site, owner or municipality is identified.