Minister Cummins announces major reforms to cut delays and improve delivery times for social housing projects in Waterford

• New single approval process for all new build social housing projects up to €200m from January 2026

The Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, John Cummins TD, today announced that from January 2026, all new proposals for newbuild social housing projects up to €200 million will move to a single approval process.

The new system will also introduce standardised design and specifications across all projects. These reforms will cut delays, streamline delivery and accelerate the construction of new social homes in Waterford and throughout the country.

By replacing the current four stage, this new single approval process will remove unnecessary delays and create a clearer, faster pathway for delivering social homes. Standardised design and specifications will drive greater efficiency, improve consistency and ensure better value for money, meaning more highquality homes can be delivered sooner for those who need them.

Minister Cummins said: “I am determined to use every opportunity available to accelerate the delivery of social homes. That means reducing bureaucracy, cutting red tape and putting in place systems that allow new social homes to be delivered faster and more efficiently.”

“These reforms will streamline approvals, embed standardisation and support greater use of modern construction methods, all with the single aim of getting highquality homes built sooner for those who need them.

“Of course, more needs to be done but I expect to see a marked increase in ownbuild social housing delivery from local authorities in particular due to these reforms.

“This is a matter of urgent importance, and we must keep driving momentum to ensure families and individuals in Waterford get the homes they need.”

This Government’s Housing Action Plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, provides clear targets for local authorities to scale-up social housing delivery, increasing from an average of 8,000 over recent years to an average of 12,000 per year, delivering 72,000 new social homes during the lifetime of the plan.

This streamlined approval process will remove the requirement for additional detailed submissions for review and approval throughout the project lifecycle; and lead to quicker sign off on project proposals from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.