UK guts planning red tape so datacenters can bypass the neighbors faster

ON-PREM

Overhaul of process could give NIMBYs one year less to complain

Reform of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 aims to cut a year off the approval process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in England and Wales – a category that now includes datacenters. 

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) confirmed that changes under the Act, taking effect later this month, will scrap the statutory requirement for pre-application consultation on NSIPs. These are major developments – power stations, railways, or water reservoirs – that, due to their national importance, bypass local council planning processes and instead get the go-ahead directly from Westminster.

MHCLG says the reform could shave up to 12 months off the planning timeline and save up to £1 billion ($1.33 billion) for the industries involved during the life of this Parliament. Developers will get technical support and "meaningful advice" from the Planning Inspectorate before submitting applications, with examinations streamlined for speed and certainty, the ministry says.

Datacenters were brought into the NSIP regime earlier this year via the Infrastructure Planning (Business or Commercial Projects) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, meaning many developments can now be approved centrally rather than through local oversight. Given the government's enthusiasm for AI, evident in last year's AI Opportunities Action Plan and its scheme to dot the country with "AI Growth Zones," it's a fair bet that AI-focused projects will often qualify as nationally significant. 

Law firm Womble Bond Dickinson notes, however, that the government still hasn't spelled out exactly what makes a datacenter eligible for NSIP status: facility size, economic contribution or some other criterion. 

"Datacenters are not automatically consented as NSIPs; instead, the NSIP regime operates on an opt‑in basis for developers. A datacenter project may be directed into the NSIP regime where the Secretary of State considers it to be of national significance and satisfied that the statutory tests under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 are met," the firm explained.

This is due to be addressed through a National Policy Statement (NPS), which The Reg understands is being prepared by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). It is expected to set out the policy framework for decision‑making, including parameters and factors relevant to national significance.

We understand this NPS is expected in the autumn/ fall, and asked DSIT to confirm. 

According to MHCLG, more than 80 prospective applicants have already benefited from early advice to help shape their applications since the launch of the Inspectorate's new pre-application service.  

Ministers have already waved through three bit barn campus proposals into the NSIP regime, naming sites at Wapseys Wood in Buckinghamshire, Ampthill Road in Bedford, and New Barn Lane in Dartford.  

The fast track approval process follows datacenters being classed as critical national infrastructure (CNI) two years ago, which one civil servant warned at the time would stifle local opposition to projects.

Earlier this year, the government also said it wanted to overhaul regulations to deter legal challenges against critical energy and infrastructure build-outs, including datacenters.

"For too long, vital infrastructure delivery has been delayed by judicial reviews of projects," a spokesperson for HM Treasury said at the time.

Opposition to new datacenters has been growing, both in the UK and in the US, over their energy and water use, emissions, and that relatively few local jobs get created once the facility is built. ®