Minister Cummins confirms funding approval for 28 social and affordable homes in Ardmore

New development will comprise of a mix of 10 Starter Home Purchase Units and 18 social homes

Waterford Minister of State for Planning & Local Government, John Cummins TD, has confirmed that funding approval has been granted by his Department for ten starter home purchase units in the village of Ardmore, in County Waterford. This comes hot on the heels of approval for 18 social housing units in the same development, paving the way for the development of 28 new homes to proceed.

The site at Farrangarret has been earmarked for a considerable period of time for social and affordable housing; however,complexities meant the original proposal by Ó Cualann did not proceed, and Waterford City and County Council took on the project. The 28-home Tobar Ciúin development will now proceed to construction.

Minister Cummins said: “I’m delighted to confirm that having worked extensively alongside officials in my Department and Waterford City & County Council, that funding has been approved for these much needed 28 homes in Ardmore.

“I know this news will be welcomed by the entire community in Ardmore and I would like to thank the Ardmore 365 group and my Fine Gael colleagues in particular who have engaged with me over a number of years to help bring this project to fruition.

“As a Minister within the Department of Housing, my priority has always been to support people who wish to live in the communities they know and love, not put obstacles in their way. That is why I am progressing significant changes to rural housing planning policy to provide people with the flexibility to be able to build a home in their communities, but we must also progress projects within towns and villages like Ardmore”.

“This development at Tobar Ciúin is the eighth Starter Home Purchase Scheme that has been announced in Waterford and work is ongoing to provide more schemes in other areas across the county. It is my priority to build on the 724 housing units that were completed in Waterford last year. We have a strong pipeline for delivery across 2026 and 2027 which is really encouraging.”

The Starter Home Purchase Scheme is open to first time buyers or those who qualify for the ‘Fresh Start Principle’ and no longer have a stake in a property. Under this scheme, an equity stake of up to €75,000 can be taken in the property to reduce the mortgage required by a purchaser. The actual equity amount will differ depending on the maximum mortgage approval figure a purchaser can get from a lending institution. The equity stake can be purchased at a future point in time if the owner chooses to do so and no interest is payable.