the Register

The Register of Relevant Public Lands is a public webmap, developed by the LDA and housed on their website containing all relevant public lands. This is the first time such a map has been developed with a purpose of showing all relevant public lands, which are important assets, many of these are developed, or used for different purposes, and play an important role in different ways.

The Register serves as an important and strategic mapping tool that will help to show the extent of public lands. The Register is being used by the LDA to identify and assess the potential for certain public lands to be better utilised for housing and other developments into the future. This will also help to enhance transparency regarding state lands interests, and the LDA have a role in developing, maintaining and updating the Register of Relevant Public Lands into the future.

What is Relevant Public Land? - all land within a census town owned by a relevant public body shall be relevant public land. A relevant public body is a body identified within the LDA Act as follows:

• Schedule 1 bodies - non-commercial public bodies / agencies and government departments;
• Schedule 2 bodies - commercial public bodies / agencies; and
• Local Authorities.

The Report will be the LDA's assessment of publicly owned land. The main objective of the report is to identify lands in the Register that may be suitable for future development for housing. This includes lands which are not being utilised or are underutilised, and to identify potential opportunities to make the best use of public land, to enhance stability, affordability, and sustainability in our housing supply though future economic cycles. In particular, to identify relevant public lands with the potential to be developed for residential use with a focus on affordable and social housing.

Section 50 of the LDA Act 2021 outlines the requirements to produce a Register. The key requirements are outlined as follows:

• The LDA shall establish a public webmap, known as the register, showing all relevant public land and land owned by the LDA.
• Each relevant public land shall contain:
  • a description of the land, including the area and location of the land;
  • and whether or not the site is subject to Part 9 (known as the affordability clause - see below).
• The public map shall be shown at an appropriate scale on a suitable map ( OSI maps have been used for the Register).
• A relevant public body shall furnish the LDA any information within its possession or control regarding information relating to a relevant public land.
• The PRAI, OSI and the Valuation Office shall, upon request by the LDA, provide information to assist with the creation and maintenance of the Register.

Section 51 (Obligations of Relevant Public Body) and Section 52 (Report of Agency to Government relating to certain land) also has implications on the register of relevant lands.

The Register identifies relevant public land and provides information on whether lands are applicable to the Part 9 requirements of the LDA Act or whether exempted from the provisions of Part 9.

The Part 9 affordability requirement will apply to:

• an application for permission for the development of 5 or more dwellings on land which is relevant public land on the day on which Part 9 has been commenced, or;
• where an application relates to mixed-use development, to that part of the application which relates to the development of dwellings on land which is relevant public land on the day on which Part 9 has been commenced.

The affordability requirement outlines the minimum percentage of affordable housing units that shall be delivered in residential developments on relevant public land, this percentage is currently set at:

• 80% in population centres over 150,000 (being Dublin and Cork cities) and;
• 50% in all other urban areas (census towns with a population over 10,000)

The Register of Relevant Land will also identify whether relevant public lands are exempt from the provisions of Part 9 by Government Order.

In addition to providing the public lands information, several third party datasets are provided as layers within the State Lands Database map. These layers allow users to asses a site in the context of its locality.

We have included information on the existing built infrastructure, planning information, nature and environmental information and some census data.

Thank You

We look forward to you using the Register of Relevant Public Land and State Lands Database. Any feedback on these new maps can be submitted through the feedback facility within the map or via assetdatabase@lda.ie.