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The UK is not currently smaller or less developed than continental Europe: CBRE still ranks it as Europe’s largest data-centre market, while Newmark calls it the continent’s most mature. The warning is about what comes next. If projects cannot secure electricity, grid connections, planning approval and construction capacity on workable schedules, some future investment may move to places where those conditions are easier.
That risk is emerging while demand remains exceptionally strong. London is forecast to take more than 212MW in 2026, with year-end vacancy at 5.5%, according to CBRE’s 2026 midyear review. The market’s central problem is therefore not a lack of customers, but the ability to turn proposed capacity into operating facilities.
The UK is a leading market, but its future pipeline is under pressure
London accounts for more than 80% of UK data-centre supply, according to CBRE. That concentration reflects the value of established cloud availability zones, carrier connectivity and proximity to major customers. It also makes the country’s expansion vulnerable to local constraints in and around the capital.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesCBRE forecast 180MW of London-area supply for 2026, compared with 193MW delivered in 2025. Across 2025 and 2026, the forecast total is 373MW—more than double the 147MW delivered during the preceding two-year period. Those figures describe a large and expanding market, not one that has already fallen behind Europe.
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| Measure | Reported figure | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| London-area supply delivered in 2025 | 193MW | CBRE, 2026 outlook |
| London-area supply forecast for 2026 | 180MW | CBRE, 2026 outlook |
| Combined London-area supply for 2025–26 | 373MW | CBRE; compared with 147MW in the prior two years |
| UK supply located in London | Over 80% | CBRE |
| Newport and Cardiff share | 9% | CBRE |
| Manchester share | 2% | CBRE |
| London take-up forecast for 2026 | Above 212MW | CBRE midyear review; later forecast than its January estimate of 189MW |
| London year-end vacancy forecast for 2026 | 5.5% | CBRE midyear review; January estimate was 5.9% |
Power and grid connections are the central bottlenecks
Proposed UK data-centre projects have requested around 50GW of grid capacity, Savills reported on 2 July 2026. That is an aggregate of requests from proposed projects, not 50GW of approved connections or a forecast of capacity that will all be built.
Getting a connection is only one stage. Developers must also secure land, obtain planning consent, complete design, procure equipment, finance construction and bring the facility into operation. A project can therefore appear in a pipeline for years without adding usable capacity.
“AI training drives headlines; inference drives the long-term demand reality,” wrote Cameron Bell, director of EMEA Data Centre Advisory at Savills. He said delivery would be shaped by power availability, grid access and planning constraints. Electricity cost, the date a connection can actually be delivered and the availability of construction contractors all affect whether a site is commercially viable.
Why London remains dominant despite its constraints
Customers often prioritise established cloud regions, network density and access to London-based businesses. That keeps demand concentrated even when suitable power is easier to find elsewhere.
CBRE says power scarcity is pushing some planned developments toward locations adjacent to London’s existing cloud availability zones. These sites can offer more workable electricity arrangements while preserving customer and connectivity advantages. The trade-off is that they still depend on timely transmission and distribution upgrades, planning decisions and sufficient building capacity.
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CBRE also reported that hyperscalers returned to the London market toward the end of 2025 after a pause. AI workloads are increasing required power density and floor loading, raising the engineering demands of new facilities. Neocloud operators are adding GPU capacity for customers that need rapid access to compute, including users that must remain close to London customers.
Demand is changing from concentrated training to wider inference
Savills distinguishes between large, concentrated AI-training deployments and inference capacity used as AI becomes part of everyday business workflows. Training demand can be cyclical and focused in a small number of very large facilities; inference is more likely to be distributed across regions to meet latency, resilience and customer-location requirements.
Savills has discussed possible modular deployments in increments of 5MW to 20MW. Those increments are an analytical deployment pattern, not a confirmed construction programme. They illustrate why a market may need both very large campuses and smaller, repeatable sites near population centres and network hubs.
Where new UK capacity is expected to appear
London still dominates, with Newport and Cardiff together representing 9% of national supply and Manchester 2%, according to CBRE. Other developments are being considered near London and in regions where power availability is more favourable.
The government’s AI Growth Zones are intended to support capacity outside the established clusters. In CBRE’s 2026 midyear review, work had begun at North Lanarkshire and Cambois. The other named zones had not yet attracted new data-centre investment at the time of that review. The policy is therefore an early-stage intervention rather than evidence that regional capacity has already been delivered.
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Investment numbers show confidence, not completed capacity
Newmark’s analysis of FDI Markets put UK data-centre foreign direct investment at about €50bn during 2018–24, compared with €28bn for Germany. Osborne Clarke reported £59bn committed for 52 new UK data-centre sites over nine years.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Both figures demonstrate investor interest, but neither should be read as operational supply. Commitments and announced sites still have to pass planning, grid-connection, design, procurement and construction milestones. The gap between a financial commitment and a powered, occupied facility is particularly important when grid queues and planning timelines are uncertain.
How the UK compares with alternative European locations
There is no single ranking that establishes the best European market for every data-centre project. A developer comparing the UK with Nordic or other European locations should assess the complete delivery equation:
- Power and timing: available megawatts, electricity price and the date a firm grid connection can be delivered.
- Land and planning: site assembly, zoning, environmental review and consenting time.
- Connectivity: subsea and terrestrial routes, cloud-region access and latency to customers.
- Construction capacity: availability of specialist contractors, equipment and commissioning teams.
- Workload fit: large AI-training clusters may favour very different sites from distributed inference.
Savills and Newmark point to Nordic power availability and constraints in established hubs, but those observations are market context rather than a complete scorecard. A location with cheaper or faster power may still be less attractive if it lacks connectivity or customer proximity; a London-adjacent site may command demand but face longer connection and planning queues.
What would make the warning real?
The quoted phrase in the headline—“Everything else will go where it is easier to build”—has no verified named attribution in the available material. Its underlying risk can nevertheless be tested through delivery outcomes. The UK would be losing future growth if projects repeatedly shift abroad or are cancelled because connection dates, planning approvals or construction schedules cannot meet customer requirements.
Conversely, faster grid delivery, effective regional planning and successful AI Growth Zones could let the UK convert its strong demand and investment base into operating capacity. The decisive evidence will be completed facilities and energised connections, not the size of the proposed pipeline alone.
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