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Irish Independent
13-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
‘Developers standing back' as land tax stalls interest in zoned farmland
Major home builder Glenveagh has confirmed the tax is impacting how it manages land and decides which sites to buy, hold or sell. It comes as the Government ramps up pressure on local authorities to zone more land for housing, with Housing Minister James Browne set to write to county councils this week to get the process moving. IFA farm business chair Bill O'Keeffe said developers, approved housing bodies (AHBs) and financial lenders are all standing back from purchasing zoned land in many cases due to the tax liability and wider market challenges. 'Affected farmers live in fear of the tax implications of RZLT [Residential Zoned Land Tax], and its introduction has not increased interest from potential buyers,' he said. Developers, he added, are standing back from purchasing zoned land in many cases, until the many other obstacles that are restricting housing development – finance, pre-planning investigations, labour and materials – are in place. The stated aim of RZLT was to encourage housing development, but it's doing the exact opposite 'There are several hoops to jump through to avail of the one-year exemption and we're calling for all actively farmed land to be permanently excluded,' he said. He criticised the current system, which requires affected farmers to make a submission to de-zone their land and then make a return to Revenue before May 23 to qualify for the 2025 exemption. 'The stated aim of RZLT was to encourage housing development, but it's doing the exact opposite,' he said. Meanwhile, top home builder Glenveagh said the RZLT is now a 'factor' in how it assesses potential land deals. "From our perspective, the RZLT is a factor that we need to consider when assessing potential land acquisitions and, indeed, in determining the need for site sales where other players in the industry may be able to develop a particular site more quickly than us, for example." However, it also said the RZLT is supporting in keeping residentially zoned land flowing through the system and in the hands of people who can develop it as efficiently as possible. The pressure on landowners comes as RTÉ reported at the weekend that the Government will instruct county councils to reopen their development plans and rezone more land for housing under a Section 28 Direction. The move is aimed at speeding up the delivery of over 300,000 homes by 2030. However, as the planning and zoning landscape shifts, Glenveagh is continuing its push to partner with farmers to identify new housing sites. The developer's land partnerships initiative, launched in 2022, offers landowners the chance to engage in joint deals where Glenveagh takes on the cost and risk of achieving planning permission. In return, farmers retain ownership of their land until permission is secured and typically receive a higher sale price. 'We remain open to opportunities for similar partnerships with landowners,' Glenveagh said. 'Based on our experience to date, this has been a very constructive way to identify sites close to the necessary infrastructure and amenities.' It says several sites secured through this model are now at various stages of planning and, if permission is granted, could support the delivery of a significant number of homes. The company said its experience has shown that partnerships like these can help unlock value in the land and streamline the development process in regions where demand for housing is high.
Agriland
06-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Farmers ‘live in fear of the tax implications of RZLT'
Farmers are being reminded that the deadline for Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) returns to Revenue is fast approaching. The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Farm Business Committee chair Bill O'Keeffe said farmers who have made a submission to dezone their lands must now make a return to Revenue on or before Friday, May 23 to avail of an exemption from RZLT in 2025. This can be done by any individual by submitting a return on the RZLT portal through the Revenue online resources: myAccount or Revenue Online Service (ROS). The advice from the IFA for those who are not familiar with these online portals to engage professional accountancy services to make this return. RZLT All farmers who made submissions to local authorities in the February-March window should have received an acknowledgement of this by April 30. This acknowledgement must be included as part of the RZLT return to Revenue where a farmer is seeking an exemption from the 3% RZLT tax in 2025. 'IFA lobbied for a permanent exemption for actively farmed land throughout 2024. The exemption announced in the Budget 25 speech is unsatisfactory as it only covers this year,' O'Keeffe said. 'The process places undue obligations on many hundreds of affected farmers who may have lands zoned without their knowledge. 'They are now under the scope of this unfair taxation and there were several hoops to jump through to avail of this one-year tax exemption,' he said. Exemption The IFA Farm Business chair said that a one-year exemption from RZLT is not a solution. 'All actively farmed lands must be removed from the scope of RZLT permanently. 'The leaders of the three largest political parties – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin – gave a commitment to the IFA in advance of last year's general election that they would remove actively farmed land from RZLT, but we have yet to see delivery on this commitment by the current government,' O'Keeffe said. The IFA committee chair called on the Minister for Finance, Pascal Donohoe and the Minister for Housing, James Browne to recognise that the current approach is not the correct instrument to encourage greater delivery of housing. He said that the stated aim of RZLT was to encourage housing development, but the RZLT is doing the exact opposite. 'Affected farmers live in fear of the tax implications of RZLT and its introduction has not increased interest from potential buyers to purchasing zoned land in many cases. 'Housing developers, AHBs (approved housing bodies) and financial lenders all recognise the RZLT liability associated with purchasing zoned land. 'They are standing back from purchasing zoned land in many cases, until the many other obstacles that are restricting housing development – finance, pre-planning investigations, labour and materials – are in place,' he said. O'Keeffe said that the IFA and farmers understand the need for more houses, but RZLT is not the instrument that will solve the current deficit. 'There are many other barriers to the supply of new housing that the government needs to address. 'IFA will continue this campaign to have all farmland permanently excluded from the scope of RZLT,' he added.
