Foreign nationals make up over a quarter of social housing list in Waterford

Foreign nationals made up over a quarter of those on the social housing waiting list in County Waterford, as of November 2025.

New figures have emerged from the Department of Housing which reveal the citizenship status of applicants on the waiting list last year.

In Waterford, there were a total of 1,458 households who were assessed as qualified for social housing support.

Of the main applicants, 1073 were Irish citizens, 205 were EEA citizens, 162 were non-EEA citizens and 18 were UK citizens.

This means that there were 385 non-nationals on the list in November of last year, making up approximately 26 per cent of the total figure.

Social welfare was the only source of income for 703 of the households, while 412 households could rely on employment.

Meanwhile, 178 of the households had employment and social welfare as their form of income. 165 had their income categorised as ‘other’.