Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The implementation of a land value sharing measure represents an important step in the delivery of sustainable housing. The 2020 programme for Government committed to reviewing how community gain could be captured through the development process. The Housing for All policy includes a commitment to develop land value sharing measures to ensure that additional land value, which results from the zoning or designation, and the granting of planning permission, will be shared in a fairer way with the State and that communities will also benefit from improved infrastructure provision. A general scheme of a Bill for land value sharing and urban development zones was approved by the Government in December 2021, with detailed drafting to follow an economic appraisal and stakeholder engagement, ahead of enactment in quarter 4 of 2022.

Provisions for a residential zoned land tax were included in the Finance Act 2021 to impose a financial tax where land that is zoned and serviced is not brought forward for housing development. Land value sharing and the residential zoned land tax are key elements in a new approach of active land management. The lead-in time for their implementation is necessitated by virtue of preparatory work, economic appraisal and legislative enactment, in the case of land value sharing. All of this is essential in ensuring that a fair, reasonable and evidence-based approach is taken and it would not be appropriate to introduce a windfall tax in the interim.

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