LOCAL AUTHORITIES HAVE published maps of areas where landowners will be subject to a new tax from next year that is aimed at increasing the use of land for housing.

The Residential Zoned Land Tax will target zoned, serviced residential development lands, including mixed-use lands, and be charged at a rate of 3% of the land’s market value annually.

The government’s aim is for the tax to incentivise landowners to use existing planning permissions for housing.

Only one-sixth of residentially-zoned land is activated for housing during a given local authority’s six-year development plan, according to Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien. 

In a statement, the minister said: “We need to see more suitable land which is serviced and available for housing unlocked for the delivery of homes.”

“Landowners now have an opportunity to make submissions to their local authority, with regard to supplemental maps only, if they consider that their land does not fall into the scope of the tax, or if they wish to seek the re-zoning of their land,” he said.

“The publication of Supplemental Maps is an important step in the process of introducing this measure, a key action in Housing for All, aimed at increasing housing supply.

“Taken together with the planned Land Value Sharing initiative and reform of the planning system, the Government is ensuring a fairer approach to land management and that housing will get built quicker and without unnecessary speculative costs from land mismanagement.”

The current maps are draft versions and landowners whose land is included on a map are being advised to review whether their land meets the criteria for inclusion and make an according submission to their local authority by 1 June. Final maps will be prepared in December 2023.

Residential properties are not liable for the tax if they are subject to Local Property Tax, even if they are on the map.