Tritax Big Box REIT (LSE:BBOX) said a six-week judicial review into its Manor Farm data centre scheme has concluded successfully, clearing the way to develop a 107MW facility on its 74-acre site in the Slough Availability Zone.
The real estate investment trust, the largest listed investor in UK logistics warehouse assets, described the zone as one of Europe's most supply-constrained data centre markets.
The company has also secured an accelerated route to power delivery, which it called a critical differentiator given that power access remains a principal constraint on new data centre development across the sector.
A pre-let agreement for the scheme is now in solicitors' hands following a competitive marketing process, which Tritax Big Box said demonstrated strong occupier demand for powered capacity in the area.
Once operational, the facility is targeted to deliver a 9.3% yield on cost, underpinning what the company calls its "power-first" approach to data centre delivery.
"Achieving planning consent at Manor Farm represents a significant value creation milestone for shareholders and is the first major demonstration of our data centre value creation strategy", said chief executive Colin Godfrey.
Manor Farm is the first of over 230MW in data centre developments the company has secured to date, against a wider pipeline of approximately 1 gigawatt of further opportunities.
Rental income is expected to begin following practical completion, with the planning consent, power delivery and pre-letting together expected to support recognition of capital profit through the early stages of development.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Tritax Big Box cleared a six-week judicial review and won planning consent for a 107MW data centre at Manor Farm in Slough, with a pre-let agreement now in solicitors' hands. The win removes a key execution risk on the company's pivot toward higher-return data centre development: the facility targets a 9.3% yield on cost, well above the 6–8% the company targets on its logistics disposals, and power access—secured via an accelerated route—is the sector's principal constraint. This is the first major project from a pipeline exceeding 1 gigawatt of further opportunities.
The planning win and pre-let advance Tritax Big Box's strategy to redeploy capital from lower-return logistics into data centre development. Rental income recognition is expected to begin after practical completion, with capital profit expected in early development stages, though the company has not yet disclosed a timeline or the pre-let tenant's identity.
Insights assembled by AI. Editor-reviewed and grounded in tickstock’s coverage and proprietary knowledge graph.
Content is for informational purposes only, not financial advice.
