Residential Zoned Land Tax: Guidelines for Planning Authorities

Housing Policy Objective 15.2 of Housing For All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland proposed a new tax to activate vacant land for residential purposes as a part of the Pathway to Increasing New Housing Supply. The Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) was introduced by the Finance Act 2021 and will come into effect from 2024, managed by the Revenue Commissioners.

The tax and the associated guidelines are part of a suite of integrated measures and policy direction within Housing for All to:

• engage lands in cities and towns
• create compact and integrated communities
• aid brownfield regeneration
• activate greenfield landbanks for housing
• support place making and growth of sustainable communities

The objective of the tax is to activate zoned and serviced residential development land and land zoned for mixed use, including residential, for development to increase housing supply and to ensure regeneration of vacant and idle lands in urban locations. These locations have been identified within statutory land use plans as being appropriate locations for housing and they have benefitted from investment in the key services to support the delivery of housing. Given the ongoing and urgent need to increase housing supply, the activation of these lands in a timely manner is essential.

The purpose of the guidelines is to assist planning authorities in meeting the statutory requirement to undertake and publish a draft, supplemental and final map(s) identifying lands zoned for residential purposes and mixed use purposes including residential uses, which are connected or able to be connected to the necessary services to support housing development. The guidelines include details in relation to the various actions to be taken and identification of lands in scope for the tax, and the consideration of submissions from landowners and the general public in relation to the lands identified on the maps, including the potential for appeal to An Bord Pleanala where the landowner considers that the land in question does not meet the criteria set out within the legislation.

Whilst the maps will include lands occupied by permanently occupied dwellings in the case of relevant zoned lands, owners of such properties will not be liable for the tax.

By encouraging the development of appropriately zoned and serviced land, the measure will:

• activate greenfield landbanks and brownfield lands for housing and regeneration, increasing housing supply of differing tenures and designs
• support other key policies contained in Housing for All, including Land Value Sharing, Town Centres First, Croi Conaithe (Cities) and (Towns) due to the identification and prioritisation of vacant and idle land for redevelopment and regeneration
• support the accommodation of anticipated population growth and their housing and social infrastructural needs, by directing growth to land which is appropriately serviced, where activation of planning permission for housing is incentivised and thereby providing greater certainty for delivery agencies as to the need for facilities and services to support existing and future residential communities

The guidelines can be accessed below.

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Local authorities will publish annual Residential Zoned Land Tax maps for 2025 on 31 January 2025 – these maps identify land that is liable for the tax in 2025. Owners of such land must register with Revenue. RZLT will be due in respect of such land by 23 May 2025. Visit Revenue RZLT site here.

There will be an opportunity for landowners whose land appears on the annual map for 2025 published on 31 January 2025 to request the relevant local authority change the zoning of the land, including a request to change the zoning to reflect the current economic use of the land. The application must be made between 1 February and 1 April 2025 to the relevant local authority. These applications will be acknowledged by the local authorities by 30 April 2025. Where certain conditions are met, a landowner may claim an exemption from RZLT for 2025 on foot of making such a rezoning request. This claim may be made as part of the 2025 RZLT return which must be filed by 23 May 2025.

Local Authorities will consider these requests, having regard to the proposed planning and sustainable development of the area, along with any relevant Section 28 guidelines on rezoning and existing economic activity issued by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Landowners will be notified of the decision to proceed or nor to proceed with a process to amend the land zoning by 30 June 2025.