No new homes in West London as electricity grid runs out of capacity
West London faces a de facto ban on new homes for over a decade because the electricity grid has run out of capacity.
Housebuilders have been told it could take until 2035 to get new developments in Hillingdon, Ealing and Hounslow hooked up to the electricity network because it lacks the capacity to serve them.
Energy companies and regulators are scrambling to fix the problem while Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has ordered officials to monitor the situation.
The holdup promises to delay a string of schemes in London, where a typical property costs £526,000.
Builders have raised fears that the issue may not be confined to the capital. The problem is understood to affect some areas in the Thames Valley as well.
In a letter to developers, the Greater London Authority blamed the issues in west London on a string of planned data centres that are set to hoover up huge amounts of power.
The area is a popular location for these centres because it neighbours internet “superhighway” cables that run along the M4 motorway and into the Atlantic ocean — dubbed the “Silicon Corridor”. One data centre can consume the same amount of power as up to 10,000 homes.
This has resulted in some developers being told they cannot connect housing projects to the grid until as late as 2035, the Financial Times reported, with data centres prioritised under a “first come, first serve” system.