The UK government is allowing data centers to bypass building regulations and local authority oversight by applying for fast-track status of “national importance”

• UK data centers can apply for a special ‘national importance’ designation under the NSIP scheme
• The designation enables new projects to receive approval directly from Whitehall, avoiding local planning and building regulations
• Opposition to data centers in the UK has not reached the same levels as the US, which has seen billions of dollars worth of projects delayed due to local opposition

Data centers in the UK have been given the opportunity to apply for ‘national importance’ status, which was previously only reserved for critical infrastructure such as power generation, roads, railways and submarine cables.

The UK government has also scrapped the statutory pre-application consultation requirement for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) in legislation coming into force later this month, potentially cutting application processing times by up to a year.