An Bord Pleanála adds Kerry urban areas to RZLT after dismissing appeals

The residential-zoned land tax, the collection of which is deferred until 2025, is set to hit landowners at a rate of 3% of market value of any land that is earmarked for housing development

Land parcels in Tralee, Dingle and Milltown have been confirmed by An Bord Pleanála as suitable for residential-zoned land tax.

Parcels of land "in established urban areas" in Tralee, Dingle and Milltown have been confirmed by An Bord Pleanála as suitable for residential-zoned land tax in what is understood to be the final tranche of appeals against their inclusion in Kerry.

Appellants sought exclusion from the RZLT maps on the grounds the land was not idle, and or did not have current footpaths, or access, or water and wastewater infrastructure was not in place.

However, the arguments have been rejected and Kerry County Council maps confirmed by An Bord Pleanála.

Up to 40 acres of land in core areas in both Tralee and Killarney alone have been identified and mapped by council planners as suitable for residential development because of water and sewage infrastructure and as liable for the tax since its introduction.

Pre-planning meetings have taken place with land owners and appeals taken in only a small number of cases, a senior planner said.

The RZLT initiative — the collection of the tax has been deferred until 2025 — was already having a significant effect on availability of land for housing in the major towns in Kerry where there is a severe shortage of housing, a senior planner with Kerry County Council Damien Ginty said. 

“It is clear already that this initiative is having a significant effect,” Mr Ginty, senior planner with the council’s planning policy unit, said on Thursday.

Although social housing needs are being addressed, now, there are severe affordable housing shortages in Dingle, Tralee and in Killarney for locals and for staff in the tourist industry, countless council meetings have heard.

Killarney which is bounded by the national park and a golf course has been particularly struck with lack of land for housing. Auctioneer Tom Spillane recently pointed to land coming on stream at Margaret’s Road in Killarney, because of the RZLT initiative.

In Tralee, an application, including one for 256 houses near the race course at Ballybeggan and near the third-level MTU campuses has just been lodged. Councils are obliged to identify and map the lands as suitable for new or residential (R1) housing.

The first draft maps were published by local authorities in November 2022. 

Supplemental and final maps 

Local authorities will update these maps annually from 2025 onwards for changes in the zoning and servicing status of land.

At 3% of market value, the tax liability to be collected by Revenue is significant.

Those Kerry lands confirmed as suitable for inclusion on RZLT maps by An Bord Pleanala this week include land on the Castlemaine Road at Milltown, a designated district town and the fastest growing town in Kerry, along with land at Clash West near Ballybeggan, The Wood in Dingle, and at John Street also in Dingle.