Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 September 2026
749. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his Department's best estimation as to the contribution of site value to the cost of delivering housing in Ireland, by county; and whether any reports drafted by his Department, or agencies under its remit, consider the contribution of zoning changes to site values and therefore housing delivery costs. [65841/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn December 2025 my Department published Insights into Total Development Costs available at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/insights-into-total-development-costs-2025/
This report builds on the Total Development Cost Study September 2024 https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/total-development-cost-report.pdf and provides overall development costs across six dwelling types.
The 2025 report provides development costs for the Greater Dublin Area plus four regional locations which include National Planning Framework (NPF) cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway, plus the North West Region which includes metropolitan areas of Donegal and Sligo.
Average land cost percentage contributions (including stamp duty and acquisition fees) for each of the six dwelling types across the five regions are provided in the report.
The Government’s action plan on housing, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, identifies the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) as a key land activation measure to support the development of housing on zoned and serviced lands nationally. The RZLT was introduced in Finance Act 2021 and is set at 3% of Market Value of the land concerned with the tax being applied annually. The tax operates on the basis of self-assessment by the landowner, with the landowner required to submit a return to the Revenue Commissioners. It specifically aims to bring those lands which have benefitted from investment in services and are capable of being developed forward for housing.
A final map indicating land liable to the tax for 2026 was published on 31 January 2026. The tax is administered and collected by the Revenue Commissioners.
Figures provided by the Revenue Commissioners (August 2026) indicate that approximately €79m of the €119.4m declared liability in 2026 was able to be deferred mainly due to a recent grant of planning permission or the commencement of a planning permission on the site. This indicates that housing development is being activated on land liable to the tax.
My Department does not maintain an estimate of valuation or cost of residentially zoned lands. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) provides estimates of Residentially Zoned Land prices per acre at State and regional level.
