Since 2024, the South East has seen 25 planning applications submitted for data centres, but many of these are in areas without enough skilled workers to build them.
The South East, along with London and Wales, has been identified as one of the regions most lacking in necessary tradespeople.
The demand for data centres, driven in part by the global AI boom, has more than tripled since the 2000s.
Today, councils are receiving an average of 44 applications per year, compared to 14 per year in the past.
Across the UK, there are over a million people working in the main construction trades needed for building and fitting out data centres, such as electricians, heating and cooling engineers, and machinery installers.
However, these workers are also responsible for building and maintaining hospitals, schools, offices, factories, and shops.
Horizon Platforms, which conducted the research, compared 678 data centre planning applications submitted since 2000 with employment figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for these trades.
The study found that the South East and London, which have received 45 data centre applications since 2024, share 38 per cent of the pipeline.
Many of these applications are concentrated in a single corridor just west of London, spanning Chiltern South Bucks, Slough, Buckinghamshire, and Wycombe.
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Currently, there are 63 data centre schemes awaiting a planning decision nationwide, with 13 in this area alone.
This situation could lead to contractors having to move their workforce around the country to meet demand, as multiple large projects compete for the same pool of tradespeople.
Marco Maccio, Digital Director at Horizon Platforms, said: “Much of the talk around the UK’s data centre boom so far has been around planning permission and the water needed to run them, but each and every one of these businesses needs people to physically build and maintain them.
“There isn’t a separate army of data centre tradespeople waiting around for these projects to begin.
“They’re the same group of people currently busy fitting out hospitals, schools, offices, factories, and shops.
“The projects will no doubt still be built, but it will most likely mean contractors moving their crews across the country, which, while not uncommon in the construction trades, is perhaps less expected when you have several major developments all competing for the same people at the same time.”
The shortage of skilled workers is a significant challenge for the construction industry, which must balance the demands of numerous sectors while also dealing with the increase in data centre projects.
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