The Government is to induce property owners and developers to pay the State up to half of the increase in the value of land when it is rezoned for housing under radical moves to rein in speculation and cool the market.
The extensive measures will be unveiled within the coming weeks.
The aim is to ensure the State makes a gain from the significant increase in the value of private land that arises from zoning and investment decisions by public authorities.
The Housing for All policy will aim to boost the supply of new homes as rising demand drives a surge in prices. By ensuring landowners pay a large part of the gain from zoning or public investment, the Minister aims to reset the most basic terms of the property market after decades of dysfunction.
Draft laws, said to be highly complex, will be published in autumn. Government leaders aim to bring them through the Dáil and Seanad by early 2022.
The value uplift on a development site will be tracked from the point at which it was zoned to the point at which planning permission is granted. It will be a condition of planning approval to direct payments toward community gain.
In the short term, the system will cover all new residential zoning or mixed-use zoning that includes residential development. To prevent long-term hoarding of zoned development land, the system will include a “use it or lose it” zoning mechanism.
Developers already make some contributions to local authorities for roads and lighting under a levy system.