Cluid's mission is to design, build and manage high-quality affordable housing and facilitate the creation of homes and sustainable communities for those in need. Residents are a positive resource and the development of communities central to our work.

We recently opened a housing scheme in Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown . . . where 20% was obviously affordable housing . . . and if you think of it, this is a catchment area where no one but the wealthy could afford if it weren't for these schemes.

We use the waiting lists which are held by the local housing authority, but I can see us maintaining our own list down the line, as happened with housing associations in the UK. Affordable Housing is not a new concept at all. In the UK, associations have really come into their own over the past few decades and the same will happen here if the level of cross-party government support continues.

We want to see more integrated developments where social housing is allocated to areas that would've previously been entirely private. It is the only way to build 'real' communities that can foster and grow. In Dublin city, for instance, the house prices dictate only the high earners can afford decent housing, but communities also need ordinary people . . . the local mechanic, teachers, shop workers . . . living and working in their communities, otherwise the city dies.

We can do this by working in unison with the best developers in Ireland. Up until 10 years ago, most people lived in houses. Now, up to 95% of new housing constitutes apartments and this is the way it's going to go in cities, as has happened elsewhere across Europe.

We have to adapt to that and make sure legislation follows.

Buying the property is one thing, managing it is quite another. For instance, most new developments will now have young families in them too. Therefore, we need to make sure there's allocated play areas, safe structures in which to grow up, and so on. . . It's all about designing in safeguards and designing out potential problems.

We've all heard nightmare stories about management companies in private apartment dwellings. The Government needs to seriously consider introducing legislation to provide more protection for tenants and investors, so that the blocks don't go to ruin.

Land and development is so expensive now, if we don't make sure it works to deliver 20% to affordable housing, ordinary families won't be able to stay in Dublin. There are plenty of good examples of integrating social housing . . . the Iveagh "ats for instance. It takes time, planning and funding to make it work. Affordable housing basically works around the fact that if your mortgage amounts to more than 37% of your income, you qualify. More and more people are falling into this bracket so there will be more demand.

For the future, we would prefer more autonomy to source opportunities. At the moment, all our contacts are mediated through local authorities; our funding also comes from the authorities. If the funding regime was more efficient, we would be able to expedite more good accommodation quickly.

There is great change ahead, and more responsibility will be placed on housing associations with local authorities taking a step back and the likes of Cluid assuming more of a monitoring role rather than a direct provision role. We have about 2,500 properties at the moment . . . some of them are part of the 20% structure, some are Green"eld sites developed from scratch. Cluid is determined to play a significant role in ensuring realistic targets are set and achieved so that people can live in decent accommodation within their means. The incoming government needs to continue to take this area very seriously. The partnerships we are involved in work to the mutual benefit of all, the residents and the wider community.

In conversation with June Caldwell