Land zoned for housing in Laois: 18 hectares
Laois’s current development plan zones 18 hectares across 9 sites for new residential development — 0.2% of the national total. The median site is 1.8 hectares.
Find zoned land in Laois → or screen a specific site
Largest zoned sites in Laois
Place names are the nearest settlement to each site’s centre, not an address — the zoning layer records boundaries, not properties.
| Nearest place | Zone (council’s own label) | Hectares | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow | New Residential | 5.4 | map |
| Graigue ED | New Residential | 3.6 | map |
| Graigue ED | New Residential | 3.5 | map |
| Graigue ED | New Residential | 2.1 | map |
| Carlow | New Residential | 1.8 | map |
| Graigue ED | New Residential | 0.6 | map |
| Graigue ED | New Residential | 0.5 | map |
| Graigue ED | New Residential | 0.2 | map |
| Graigue ED | New Residential | 0.2 | map |
Which plan zones it
| Development plan or local area plan | Sites | Hectares |
|---|---|---|
| Carlow - Graiguecullen Joint Urban Local Area Plan 2024 - 20 | 9 | 17.8 |
What else Laois zones
New housing is a small share of any plan. For context, the largest zoning classes in Laois:
| Zoning class | Hectares |
|---|---|
| Existing residential | 1,024 |
| Active open space | 633 |
| Mixed/general community services/facilities uses | 293 |
| Industrial, enterprise, employment | 277 |
| City/Town/village Centre, central area | 270 |
| Mixed/general commercial/industrial/enterprise uses | 179 |
| Residential, mixed residential and other uses | 172 |
| Strategic reserve, White land | 101 |
Source: MyPlan.ie National Zoning (GZT), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Figures are as published in the authority’s current plan; plans are reviewed on a cycle, so check the live map before relying on any single site.
Why owners of this land are motivated
Ireland charges an annual Residential Zoned Land Tax on land that is both zoned for residential use and serviced. It is levied on market value, so holding zoned-and-serviced land idle now has a running cost that did not exist a few years ago.
That is the part worth understanding as a developer: it changes the owner’s position, not yours. An owner sitting on zoned land with no intention to build has a reason to talk that they did not have before. Check the authority’s RZLT map and current Revenue guidance for whether a specific site is in scope and at what rate — the scope and the commencement dates have both been revised more than once.
What "zoned" means here — and what it does not
Irish local authorities allocate land for housing through the development plan. Land in these classes is zoned by the council for new residential development, which is the single strongest planning signal available before an application is made.
It is not planning permission. You still apply, and the authority still assesses density, height, design, services, roads and the rest against the plan. Zoning tells you the principle is supported; it does not tell you the scheme is.
It is not an offer to sell. Zoning is a decision the council made about the land, not one the owner made. Most of these owners have never been approached.
Serviced matters more than zoned. Zoned land without water, wastewater or road access is a much longer project than the map suggests. Uisce Éireann capacity is the usual constraint, and it is worth checking before anything else.
GoSiteHunt is an analysis platform, not an estate agent or planning consultancy. This is indicative screening from public data — not a valuation, not planning advice, and never a substitute for the council’s own plan maps or your own advisers.
Questions this page answers
- How much residential zoned land is there in Laois?
- Development land in Laois
- Where can I build houses in Laois?
- Laois development plan residential zoning
- Residential Zoned Land Tax Laois