Planning: Residential Zoned Land Tax Draft Map 2025 (Rezoning)

Overview

The Government’s 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 was introduced in the Finance Act 2021. The process to identify land to which the tax applies is now underway and the tax will be payable from 2025. 

The objective of the tax is to activate land that is serviced and zoned for residential use or mixed use, including residential use, in order 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.  

Please note that whilst residential properties are included on the Draft Map, they are not liable for the tax under Section 653O of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as amended. A ‘residential property’ means any building which is in use as, or is suitable for use as, a dwelling. Owners of such properties will not be liable for the tax. 

The RZLT process has two parts 

1) Identification and mapping of the land in scope for the tax. This is undertaken by local authorities through the publication of annual draft and annual final maps – see below.  

2) Administration of the tax, which is to be undertaken by the Revenue Commissioners from 2025 onwards.   

Identification of land liable to RZLT  

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has prepared an annual draft map of the land considered to be in scope for the RZLT as of 1st of February 2025.  

The annual draft map is available below and at the following locations: 

• Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Offices, County Hall, Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire, A96 K6C9, 10:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday.   

• Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Dundrum Offices, Main St, Dundrum, Dublin 14, D14 YY00,9:30am to 12:30pm and 1:30pm to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.    

Please note that although they are included on the map, residential properties are not subject to RZLT if they are subject to Local Property Tax. It is not necessary to make a submission to remove this type of residential property from the map.   

Land appearing on the annual final maps, as amended to take into account the outcome of submissions and rezoning requests made in respect of the land on these maps, will be included on the annual final map of land in scope for the tax in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to be published on 31 January 2026. This land will be subject to the tax in 2026 unless it is exempt as a residential property, as outlined above, or qualifies for any other exemption, as provided for in the legislation. 

The RZLT map as prepared and published by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council includes lands that meet the relevant criteria for inclusion on the map as set out in the legislation. 

Submissions on the draft map for 2026 for the inclusion, exclusion of lands from the mapping or on what date the land first satisfied the criteria for inclusion, before the 1st of April 2025 can be made here.

The administration of the RZLT is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners.

The legislation underpinning the RZLT may be found at Part 22A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Guidance in respect of the administration of the tax may be found here.

Guidance on the Residential Zoned Land Tax, as prepared and published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, to assist planning authorities in publishing the maps can be viewed here

You can find answers to some frequently asked questions about the RZLT and how to make a submission below.

Why your views matter

Making a submission   

Making a rezoning request on a final map for 2025 (published 31 January)

An additional provision was made in the Finance Act 2024, facilitating a further round of rezoning requests to remove land from liability to the tax.  Rezoning requests can only be made for land identified on the final annual map for 2025, published on 31 January 2025.  Rezoning requests for other land will not be considered.

Submissions requesting a change of zoning are considered by the local authority.  The rezoning request must be made to the relevant local authority between 1 February and 1 April 2025.

• A rezoning request acknowledgement letter containing details of the recent planning history of the land will be issued by 30 April from the local authority to the landowner.
• The local authority will communicate in writing to the landowner its decision on whether to progress with an intended variation to the statutory land use plan by 30 June 2025. 
• Decisions on rezoning requests cannot be appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

The rezoning request acknowledgement letter can be used to support a claim for an exemption from the tax for 2025. This claim must be made in the 2025 annual return, which must be made to the Revenue Commissioners on or before 23 May 2025.

Please here to see the 2025 Final Map published 31 January. 

Landowner Rezoning Requests

If you are making a rezoning request in respect of land that you own, or on behalf of a landowner, please note the following:

• Your name and address must be included in the submission.
• Submissions must be accompanied by an Ordnance Survey map showing the property at an appropriate scale, 1:1000 (urban areas) or 1:2500 (rural areas) suitable to identify the land in question. Please note the local authority may request proof of site ownership.
• Please note that a submission requesting a change in zoning can only be made in relation to land that is already on the final map for 2025, published on 31 January 2025.
• Where a land use zoning change is sought, the submission must be received on or before 1 April.
• The landowner should set out why the change in zoning is in the interest of the proper planning and sustainable development of the area, as well as any other circumstances, such as their desire to continue with an ongoing economic activity they wish to bring to the local authority’s attention. Any information to support the claims of ongoing economic use should be submitted as part of the rezoning request.

Third Party submissions 

Third parties cannot make a submission in relation to zoning.

In what format should the submission be made?  

You can make a submission via the following options only:  

• A written submission can be made electronically through the dlr Public Consultation Hub via Citizen Space at the link below 'Make an Online Submission Now'.

• In writing to Senior Executive Officer, Planning Department, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, County Hall, Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.  

In respect of making any submission, please note the following:    

• The personal information (data) collected during the consultation process is collected for the purpose of receiving and dealing with submissions. 

• Contact details provided may be used to contact a submitter who claims to be the landowner of a particular site. This will be to request evidence as is necessary to prove their ownership of the site, or request further information from the landowner. 

• Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council may, where it considers it necessary for the purposes of making the determination, request further information from Uisce Eireann, the National Roads Authority or from a person referred to in article 28 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001. 

• For further information on how Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council processes Personal Data please see our Privacy Statement below.   

• Please identify any parts of your submission which contain personal or commercially sensitive data which you do not wish to be published.   

Further details can be found in the related documents attached below, or on our website here.  

Who can I contact if I have any further questions about the process? 

​Further information on the Draft Map, re-zoning request process or on making a submission can be found via the FAQ section below. If the answer is not contained in the FAQs, please contact the Planning Department at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council on (01) 2054700 or via email at rzlt@dlrcoco.ie. Further information on the process is also available via ‘Residential Zoned Land Tax - Guidelines for Planning Authorities’, the Finance Act 2021,  Finance Act 2023 and the Finance Act 2024. Guidance in respect of the administration of the tax may be found on the Revenue.ie website.