{"id":29901,"date":"2026-08-29T15:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901"},"modified":"2026-08-29T15:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:31:07","slug":"cui-bono-the-crock-of-gold-who-profits-from-building-data-centres","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901","title":{"rendered":"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Money<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cui Bono?\u00a0 The Crock of Gold. Who profits from building Data Storage Centres? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Building data storage centres has become one of the most lucrative investment opportunities of the 21st<\/sup> century.\u00a0 In the UK, annual construction spending is expected to rise from \u00a31.75 billion in 2024, to \u00a310 billion a year by 2030.\u00a0 Globally, in 2024, the sector attracted $290 billion in annual investment.<\/p>\n

If we want to open our gates for a delivery driver when we are two hundred miles from home, we have to accept the necessity of Data Storage Centres.\u00a0 Less facetiously, if we want continued incredible developments in technology, such as remote heart monitoring, the consequence is a need for large storage facilities.<\/p>\n

So, cui bono?\u00a0 Theoretically everybody benefits from the advances in technology they facilitate, but financially?\u00a0 In ascending order, the beneficiaries are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Local Economies<\/li>\n
  2. Landowners<\/li>\n
  3. Developers and Contractors<\/li>\n
  4. Private Equity, Infrastructure Funds and REITS<\/li>\n
  5. Technology Giants<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Local Economies<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The UK data centre sector generates approximately \u00a34.7 billion annually in gross value added.\u00a0 The UK Government\u2019s AI Growth Zones are designed to funnel this to regions including the North East and Wales.\u00a0 Host communities experience real but limited benefits.\u00a0 Under Section 106 planning agreements, data centres are obliged to contribute to local infrastructure.\u00a0 For example, a recent Newham project saw over \u00a34 million committed to a local data economy programme.\u00a0 In addition, local authorities can gain significant amounts in business rates from large facilities.<\/p>\n

    However, once the construction phase is complete and the \u2013 largely imported – work force leaves, the boom for local hostelries and shops ends.\u00a0 Very few permanent staff are needed, primarily in security and maintenance.\u00a0 Despite a \u00a310 billion value, the Cambois project demonstrates this issue perfectly.\u00a0 Is the cost of improving local infrastructure to facilitate building data storage centres (road improvements, water connections and upgrades to the grid) sufficiently offset by benefits to local economies?<\/p>\n

    Landowners\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Savills has confirmed that industrial land \"\"<\/strong>values are being pushed up by the demand for space for AI-based centres.\u00a0 The superior financial clout behind them is outbidding traditional industrial and logistics developments for land puchases.<\/p>\n

    Amazon paid approximately $265 million for a former coal plant site in December 2025.\u00a0 In Didcot, Oxfordshire, a \u00a31.9 billion data centre campus is being built on the former coal-fired power station.\u00a0 These are just two examples, but former military sites, retail parks and redundant warehouse land all have the potential to realise staggering sums for the landowners.<\/p>\n

    It is not just industrial sites that are providing windfalls.\u00a0 The potential financial gain in building huge scale Data Storage Centres on rural sites is overriding local opposition and will make some landowners very wealthy indeed.\u00a0 Two examples are those by X-Links Morocco to build on \u2018Tarka the Otter\u2019 territory by the River Torridge at Great Torrington, North Devon, and by Sunlaws Development Company to build a \u00a32billion facility on the Duke of Roxburghe\u2019s land near Duns in the Lammermuir Hills in Scotland.<\/p>\n

    Developers and Contractors<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In 2024, the UK data centre construction market was valued at $13.5 billion.\u00a0 By 2032 it is projected to reach $23.3 billion.<\/p>\n

    Data construction is an engineering-intensive \"\"form of building.\u00a0 Electrical services account for 60-70% of build costs compared with 20-30% for conventional commercial property.\u00a0 Data storage centres require sophisticated cooling infrastructure, power distribution systems, advanced security technology and superior grid connection.\u00a0 All these require specialist contractors and equipment supplies.<\/p>\n

    Major construction contractors such as Mace, BAM and other international specialists, are recruiting aggressively to meet demand.<\/p>\n

    As a consequence, costs are expected to rise generally: mechanical and electrical costs by 6% over the next 12 months, reflecting the pressure data centre pipelines are creating.<\/p>\n

    Developers who see through projects from land acquisition to completion benefit most.\u00a0 However, the profits are still substantial for lower risk speculative developers and those who work with investors.<\/p>\n

    Private Equity, Infrastructure Funds and REITS: big winners.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Data centres are a metaphorical gold mine.\u00a0 They offer steady, long-term cash flows, high occupancy rates, long contractual commitments from creditworthy tenants and returns run at approximately 10%.<\/p>\n

    Savills euphemistically describes data centres as having \u2018firmly established\u2019 themselves as secure, long-term investments.\u00a0 162 data-centre related mergers and acquisitions were completed globally in 2025.\u00a0 The combined values exceed $46 billion.\u00a0 There are a further 45 deals pending worth an estimated $35 billion.<\/p>\n

    Since 2021, between 80% and 90% of the value of all global closed data centre deals has been backed by private equity, real estate funds or infrastructure investors.<\/p>\n

    Blackstone alone, through its QTS company, has committed \u00a310 billion to what is planned to be Europe\u2019s larges AI data centre at Cambois in Northumberland.\u00a0 This will occupy 540,000 square metres and consist of 10 buildings.<\/p>\n

    Technology Giants (the Hyperscalers)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    At the top of the pyramid are the big boys: Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services, Meta, and their Chinese equivalents.<\/p>\n

    They own facilities and lease enormous \"\"<\/strong>tranches of capacity in others.Microsoft and Amazon separately have committed \u00a310.5 billion to UK data centre construction over the next 3-5 years.<\/p>\n

    Their creditworthiness underpins the entire investment ecosystem.<\/p>\n

    Conclusion\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The profits sit at the top.<\/p>\n

    \u00a359 billion has been announced as committed to UK data centre investment since 2023 and where will the returns go?\u00a0 Primarily to American private equity groups, US tech giants and global infrastructure funds.<\/p>\n

    There is no doubt we need data centres.\u00a0 BUT, for those local to data centre \u2018campuses\u2019 (original Latin meaning, ironically, \u2018a field\u2019), not only will they have lost their green space, but they also face higher bills for electricity – and as hosepipe bans are in force across the UK – a fight for water supplies.<\/p>\n

    \u00a9www.PropertySurveying.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Cui Bono?\u00a0 The Crock of Gold. Who profits from building Data Storage Centres? Building data storage centres has become one of the most lucrative investment opportunities of the 21st century.\u00a0 In the UK, annual construction spending is expected to rise from \u00a31.75 billion in 2024, to \u00a310 billion a year by 2030.\u00a0 Globally, in 2024, … Continue reading “Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-29901","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres? - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres? - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cui Bono?\u00a0 The Crock of Gold. Who profits from building Data Storage Centres? Building data storage centres has become one of the most lucrative investment opportunities of the 21st century.\u00a0 In the UK, annual construction spending is expected to rise from \u00a31.75 billion in 2024, to \u00a310 billion a year by 2030.\u00a0 Globally, in 2024, … Continue reading "Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres?"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PropertySurveying\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901\",\"name\":\"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres? - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels-300x70.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-29T14:31:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":280,\"caption\":\"Money to buy property anti-money laundering register AML\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=29901#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/\",\"name\":\"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\",\"description\":\"The NEWSLETTER\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/cropped-property-surveying-logo-for-newsletter-body-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/cropped-property-surveying-logo-for-newsletter-body-1.png\",\"width\":240,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/PropertySurveying\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres? - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres? - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER","og_description":"Cui Bono?\u00a0 The Crock of Gold. Who profits from building Data Storage Centres? Building data storage centres has become one of the most lucrative investment opportunities of the 21st century.\u00a0 In the UK, annual construction spending is expected to rise from \u00a31.75 billion in 2024, to \u00a310 billion a year by 2030.\u00a0 Globally, in 2024, … Continue reading \"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres?\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901","og_site_name":"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PropertySurveying","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":280,"url":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901","url":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901","name":"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres? - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels-300x70.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-29T14:31:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/money-incentives-to-install-solar-panels.jpg","width":1200,"height":280,"caption":"Money to buy property anti-money laundering register AML"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29901#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cui Bono? The Crock of Gold: Who profits from building Data Centres?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/","name":"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER","description":"The NEWSLETTER","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/#organization","name":"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER","url":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/cropped-property-surveying-logo-for-newsletter-body-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/cropped-property-surveying-logo-for-newsletter-body-1.png","width":240,"height":50,"caption":"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PropertySurveying"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29901"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29984,"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29901\/revisions\/29984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ffolder&post=29901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}