(Bloomberg) — London’s housing shortage may be about to get worse.
Home projects in the west of the city face long delays because developers are being told that they can not be connected to the electricity grid until 2035, according to a letter sent to developers by the Greater London Authority and obtained by Bloomberg.
Demand from data centers being constructed adjacent to fiber optic cables have absorbed the remaining capacity in the area, which is supplied by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. Boroughs including Hillingdon, Ealing and Hounslow are affected, according to the letter, which was first reported by the Financial Times.
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Power demand from data centers in the key markets of the U.K., Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland are expected to jump about 80% to almost 48 terrawatt-hours by 2030, BloombergNEF said in October. Each data center uses electricity equivalent to a small city — powering servers and ensuring service remains resilient — putting pressure on existing infrastructure.
The GLA has been informed that new applicants will have to wait several years for connections, affecting plans for everything from commercial premises to industrial activities. Housing projects with fewer than 25 units can still proceed.
The GLA, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, have been coordinating with SSEN and the National Grid to better understand the extent of the constraints faced and to set out potential solutions, the note says.
“Our collective aim is to help find innovative solutions to mitigate the immediate constraints, unblocking developments that may otherwise be delayed or stopped in their entirety, whilst ensuring that economic development is not adversely affected,” the document states.
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