A-site deficient rare-earth doped barium zirconate titanate (BZT) ceramics (Ba(1-y)Ln(2y/3))Zr0.09Ti0.91O3 (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Gd) are obtained by a modified solid-state reaction method. Perovskite-like single-phase compounds were confirmed from X-ray diffraction data. Morphological analysis on sintered samples shows that the addition of rare-earth ions inhibits the growth of the grain and remarkably changes the grain morphology. The effect of rare-earth addition to BZT on phase transition and dielectric properties is analyzed. A dramatic fall in the transition temperature occurs when BZT ceramic is doped with rare-earths. Moreover, diffusivity degree of the phase transition increases and a relaxor-type behaviour is induced due to both the increment of the lanthanide content and the increase of the ionic radius of the dopant element. High values of dielectric tunability are obtained for lanthanum doped BZT. A direct relation between transition temperature and tunability is discussed. Conclusively, low permittivity and high tunability materials can be obtained by the adequate substitution of rare-earths into BZT ceramics. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.