UK data centre planning applications rose 32% year-on-year in Q1 2026, making data centres the fastest-growing tracked energy infrastructure category, according to LeadLinka Research data tracking more than 250 UK local planning authorities on a like-for-like council panel. The growth comes off a small base and is concentrated in the West London / M4 corridor.
UK data centre planning applications rose 32% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, based on a like-for-like comparison of councils tracked in both periods, according to LeadLinka Research. Against a backdrop in which most tracked categories cooled, this stands out: EV charging also grew (+17%), while battery storage fell 54% and solar declined. Data centres were the fastest-growing tracked category.
The first quarter offers the cleanest comparison because dataset coverage was still expanding through the first half of 2024, which distorts year-on-year figures built off that period. Q2 2026 is partial (20 applications recorded to 18 June, against 49 in Q2 2025) and is not a reliable basis for a year-on-year read.
| Quarter | Data centre applications |
|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | 29 |
| Q4 2024 | 35 |
| Q1 2025 | 28 |
| Q2 2025 | 49 |
| Q3 2025 | 34 |
| Q4 2025 | 53 |
| Q1 2026 | 37 |
| Q2 2026 (partial) | 20 |
The growth is real, but the absolute numbers are small and worth stating plainly. Data centre applications run in the tens per quarter, not the hundreds: 29 in Q3 2024, 35 in Q4 2024, then ranging from 28 to 53 across the quarters of 2025, before reaching 37 in Q1 2026, according to LeadLinka Research. A 32% year-on-year rise on a base of a few dozen applications is a meaningful signal of developer intent, but it is not a flood of schemes.
That distinction matters because data centres are individually large. A small number of applications can represent a disproportionate share of construction value and electrical load, even when the count is modest. The application count is the verifiable signal; the scale of any individual scheme is not something this dataset measures.
The applications cluster in the established West London and M4 data centre belt, not in a new region. Hillingdon is among the most active authorities for data centre applications in the dataset, consistent with the long-standing concentration of UK data centre capacity around West London and the Slough area, according to LeadLinka Research. The pattern reflects proximity to power, fibre and the existing operator footprint.
This is a continuation of an established geography rather than a shift to a new one. For developers, power providers and contractors, the signal is that demand for new data centre consents remains anchored to the corridor that already hosts the bulk of UK capacity.
Data centre applications are identified by matching planning application descriptions for data centre terms and counted by submission date. The headline growth figure uses a like-for-like panel of councils tracked in both Q1 2025 and Q1 2026; this fixed-panel approach removes the distortion caused by council coverage expanding during 2025, which would otherwise inflate raw year-on-year counts. Q2 2026 is partial (to 18 June). Figures are application counts; LeadLinka does not hold project-level capacity (MW) data, so no megawatt or campus-scale claims are made.
Source: LeadLinka Research, "UK Data Centre Planning Applications Rose 32% Year-on-Year in Q1 2026", leadlinka.co.uk/insights/uk-data-centre-planning-applications-2026, published 22 June 2026, updated 24 June 2026. Methodology and definitions: leadlinka.co.uk/methodology.
Source: LeadLinka planning applications database · more than 250 UK local planning authorities · Q1 2025 vs Q1 2026, Q2 2026 partial to 18 Jun · ← All Insights