New housing and planning minister Lord Falconer will have been receiving memos and briefings on his new domain. Here's how one advisor might have put across his view of the problems facing social housing.
Yes minister...
You asked me to come up with a candid assessment and ideas about the challenges you face as housing and planning minister and how you might make a success of it - I have taken you at your word.

You follow the most popular housing minister for perhaps 30 years. Some are saying the most successful as well, but in this job, the results don't become apparent for years - even decades - certainly well after you are gone. Nick Raynsford's biggest achievements (apart from persuading the Treasury to cut VAT on some renovation work which could eventually be even more significant) were an increase in Housing Corporation spending, though still well below what is needed, and the first coherent strategy for housing for years - this you acknowledged in your speech to the Chartered Institute of Housing conference in Harrogate last month.

And talking of Harrogate here is a synopsis of a speech by the president. He drew attention to "matters of varying urgency that require sorting out". They included the inability to build balanced communities, the "unhealthy" acceptance of the jungle of rents and the "failure to accept and act upon the fact that houses will not remain in full use and attraction for periods of 60 years".

Actually I misled you. I read it in the CIH's Housing magazine and it referred to the 1970 conference and not this year. Plus ça change.

Rent restructuring may cause severe problems for some housing associations and require Housing Corporation-backed rescue packages. It may not happen in your time but setting out the ground rules would gain you brownie points.

Initiative-itis
But that is, in the scheme of things, a minor issue. More significant is low demand which is wrapped up with regeneration policy in general. One problem is that we have had more initiatives over the years than ministers, and many people see them for what they are - window dressing. You wouldn't believe how many "announcements" about new funding are simply repackaging of funds already allocated: your Labour colleagues have been as guilty as their Tory predecessors, possibly more so.

Of course, we know it is not just about money. But successful regeneration (Hulme, and Peckham come to mind) has required the Exchequer to dig very deep, to make up for the lack of spending in the past. That won't change.

London
This is serious business. Most housing associations are finding it extremely difficult to make new schemes stack up because of rising land and house prices. The starter homes initiative will only scratch the surface in tackling the serious difficulty key workers face to get affordable housing.

Mind you this could "resolve" itself if some of the pundits are right: they suggest the current housing market boom presages a slump - 1989-1991 and all that. In which case the developers and housebuilders may be crying out for another housing market package.

Highly speculative, of course, but something that needs an eye kept on it.

As you know, mayor Livingstone is pushing ahead with his 50% affordable housing approach for new development. Former Housing Corporation and now GLA chief executive Anthony Mayer who also spoke at Harrogate, suggested other local authorities should also push for it.

Developers hate it but you could do something for them - such as radical changes to the planning system, which Nick failed to achieve. An idea: how about resurrecting the new town development corporation approach, probably the most successful example of enterprise undertaken by government? Nick was getting interested before the 1997 election but it seems to have got lost. It would provoke huge opposition - on the other hand it could help relieve the pressures building up in the South East.

Influence
The optimists in housing believe that because you have the ear of the PM it will bring benefits. But I guess that when it comes to asking for favours it's a bit like the bomb - you can only use it once.

So what should you ask for? More money would be a good one but presumably that's down to the Chancellor.

Or you could try for a free rein to tackle housing benefit. It underpins the poverty trap and the administrative system is in a terrible mess.

Hope this is of use. It is actually a very short list and there are a host of other issues. But I think these will come up time and time again - they usually do.

Best of luck!