UK Studios Shift to Data Centres as Land Values Double
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- BFI expects a third consecutive annual decline in the number of UK‑made films and high‑end TV shows for 2025.
- Adrian Wootton of the British Film Commission says UK studio space doubled from 3 m sq ft in 2020 to over 6 m sq ft, and further expansion would be unsustainable.
- Pinewood received planning permission to convert 78 % of its proposed 1.4 m sq ft expansion (21 sound stages) into a datacentre.
- Blackstone and Hudson Pacific abandoned a £700 m studio complex plan in Hertfordshire and are now discussing datacentre alternatives.
- Stage Fifty closure led to a £265 m proposal for six datacres replacing the scrapped Wycombe Film Studios plan.
- Land for datacentre development is now valued at least twice, possibly three times, as much as studio land.
Why it matters: Developers and investors gain from the higher land values of datacrees, while the UK studio sector loses potential expansion as production demand wanes, reshaping the real‑estate landscape. Land for datacree development is now valued at least twice, possibly three times, as much as studio land, making the shift financially attractive.
