The Land Development Agency (LDA) and Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) are in a race against time to secure a deal on a 17-acre site at Leopardstown Racecourse before a land tax kicks in at the end of May.
Government sources said the agencies have accelerated talks on the site, which has been zoned to allow as many as 1,000 social and affordable homes to be built, before the horse-racing governing body, as the landowner, becomes liable to pay the residential zoned land tax (RZLT) on it.
The RZLT, introduced under the Finance Act 2021, applies an annual charge calculated at 3 per cent of a site’s market value. It applies to undeveloped lands that are zoned and serviced for residential builds. The main purpose of the tax is to encourage prompt delivery of housing.
The first payments of the tax for landowners deemed to have vacant zoned and serviced land are due on May 25th. For owners of larger parcels of vacant land, particularly in the Dublin area, the annual tax could run into hundreds of thousands of euro each year.
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A spokesman for the LDA said it was at an “advanced stage of engagement” with the Government and HRI to accelerate the partial transfer of land at Leopardstown for the development of affordable and social housing.
The site was “one of a number” identified under the government’s Housing for All plan in 2021 and for partial transfer as part of a government decision in February 2024, he said. It was also highlighted in a report published by the agency in March 2023, he said.
The spokesman said the agency is aware HRI has plans to develop parts of the land. As part of this process, the LDA is “in discussions” with the horse-racing authority and the Government to secure the transfer of a section of the land that, if secured, would “enable the development of around 1,000 homes”.
The land forms part of a 49-acre site on the Carrickmines side of the racecourse campus. It was transferred to HRI, which receives significant taxpayer funding, in compensation for the M50 partly crossing the path of the racecourse. Horse Racing Ireland is understood to have no plans to develop the remaining 32 acres.
The site was deemed vacant several years ago, which HRI contested, saying it was used for various purposes by Leopardstown Racecourse.
A spokeswoman for the organisation said it was in “ongoing discussions with the Government around the utilisation of part of the southern end of Leopardstown Racecourse to deliver our vision for the racecourse”.
