Quality of Life

Waterford City and County has a particular advantage with our home rental and purchase prices considerably lower than the other city gateways. By comparison, house prices are 65% lower in Waterford than Dublin, and there is a wide range of commercial property options, as well as design and build spaces, available here.

Waterford’s lower prices offer prospective buyers more value for money. Buyers can often ‘trade-up’ when purchasing homes here, as they have greater purchasing power.

Rent prices are lower by 52% and availability of high quality housing stock is meeting demand. Planning permissions are at advanced stages in 4 areas to deliver an additional 1,760 housing units in Waterford City and Ferrybank by 2023.

The rental market in Waterford is set to be ignited with these new developments, part of the ambitious plans to grow the City.

Older parts of the City offer great value, while being only minutes from the City Centre, while the suburbs like leafy Dunmore Road, Cork Road and Carrickpherish offer contemporary homes in newly developed surroundings. The Ferrybank area is also set to be transformed with the North Quays Strategic Development Zone- which will comprise new retail, hotel, residential units and also a new Transport Hub. Waterford Greenway will also link up with the Wexford Greenway, and this route will pass through the heart of the Ferrybank area.

Waterford County also offers unique property opportunities, where there is plenty of opportunity to develop your own home. Areas like Dungarvan, the Copper Coast and the Blackwater Valley are seeing growth in numbers of professionals wishing to relocate to these great places. In Waterford you can have a world-class career while having a home only minutes from the beach.

Childcare costs in Waterford are 50% lower than in Dublin and the average commute time for 70% of workers in the South East is less than 30 minutes.

In Waterford City, there are 22 Primary schools, each within 20 minutes drive of the City Centre. Of these schools, there are 6 boys-only schools, 5 girls-only schools, with the remaining 11 being mixed schools. These schools range in size and more information can be found here.

There are 10 second-level schools in Waterford City, ranging from very large to small. Of these schools, 2 are boys-only, 3 are girls-only, with the remaining 5 being mixed schools. More information can be found here.

As for County Waterford, there is a total of 10 second-level schools located throughout the County. Each major town has at least one secondary school. There are 6 mixed schools in the County, 2 girls-only and 2 boys-only. More information can be found here.

There are approximately 55 primary-schools in Waterford County. Most towns and villages have small primary schools. Class sizes tend to be smaller in the local schools, and larger in the major towns.

Another factor in choosing your Childcare provider is your commute time. Commute times in Waterford generally range from 20-40 minutes, meaning your day is shorter when compared to those in larger cities.  This leaves you with more time for your kids or to engage in time for yourself, whether that’s in further education or spending time in nature (of which there is plenty!).

Waterford is home to two major hospitals – University Hospital Waterford and UPMC Whitfield.

Access to GP care is available through state of the art Primary Care Centres across Waterford City and County.

The 24-hour CAREDOC service also allows you to access a GP out-of-hours.

There is also a myriad of private healthcare providers operating in the region, and waiting times tend to be shorter than the more populated regions.

Lifestyles in Waterford are also a contributory factor in choosing the region as a place to live. Shorter commute times, less traffic congestion, easily-accessible coastline and mountains all converge to offer busy working families more time for leisure pursuits.