The problem is that so many of the initiatives and ideas sold to the country as ground-breaking prove to be business as usual.
So the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid went out of his way to sound no-nonsense and tough today. He accused some English councils of "fudging" the numbers on housing need in their area and warned them that he was not going to allow that to happen anymore.
But the response to the government's proposals has been decidedly mixed.
Labour's shadow housing minister John Healey described them as "feeble beyond belief".
"Re-treading old ground" was how the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers described the White Paper.  "Kicking the can down the road," one big investment fund said.
The chief executive of the housebuilder Inland Homes, Stephen Wicks, bemoaned the failure to relax rules on green belt development.
"Brownfield in itself can't possibly sustain the long-term housing requirements of the UK," he said.  "It can go an awful long way but there needs to be a relaxation of some green belt to enable us to deliver the numbers that we are required to do."
The White Paper does include measures to encourage developers, housing associations and councils to build more affordable homes more quickly, both to rent and to buy.
But this government seems to speak with two voices on housing: the communities department wants to shift the balance of power firmly towards new development in places people want to live, but Number 10 and some influential Tory backbenchers are sympathetic to the passionate concerns of those who wish to protect the countryside and particularly the green belt.
The real question that lies behind all the rhetoric and policy bullet-points is whether the balance of power between development and local opposition has fundamentally changed.
Ministers now accept England needs 250,000 new homes every year, they have described the housing market as "broken" and they agree that radical change is the only way to mend it.
But many have yet to be convinced that this White Paper amounts to a "realistic plan" to achieve that.

Omari Mwanahamisi put Tanzania ahead after only 26 minutes and she doubled the lead just before half-time.
Kenya pulled a goal back through Christine Nafula but the 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers were unable to find an equaliser.
In the play-off for third place, which was also played on Tuesday, Ethiopia thrashed Uganda 4-1.

The study, by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), added that households actually grew richer during the financial crisis.
But it said that the reason for the growth between 2006-12 was the increase in pension values over the period.
And the slow rate of growth in overall wealth suggested that young people would lag behind earlier generations.
Dave Innes, a research economist at the IFS and an author of the report said: "Despite the financial crisis, household wealth on average increased in real terms over the late 2000s, driven by increases in private pension entitlements."
Households aged between 45-54 saw the biggest increases in their pension wealth which rose on average by Â£38,000 over the period.
Mr Innes added: "Even with these increases in average wealth, working-age households are at risk of being less wealthy at each age than those born a decade earlier."
The report added that the range of experiences among the study group was vast - for example, a quarter of households aged 45-54 saw wealth fall by more than Â£69,000, while a quarter say their wealth increased by more than Â£138,000.
The study also looked at people's attitude towards saving and pensions. 30% of individuals reported saving for an unexpected expense, 23% reported saving for holidays or leisure, 15% for planned expenses, 10% for other people and only 10% to provide a retirement income.
Among households aged 25-34, nearly one-quarter (24%) did not expect to receive any income from the state pension in retirement.
However, one third expected it would be their largest source of income after retirement.
Despite new legislation that automatically enrols workers into workplace pension schemes, nearly half (44%) did not expect to receive any income from a private pension.
Rowena Crawford, a Senior Research Economist at the IFS and another author of the report, said: "It is striking how many individuals do not expect private pensions to have a role in financing their retirement, let alone be their main source of income."
"It will be interesting to see how these attitudes change as auto enrolment into workplace pensions is rolled out."
Over the last three decades, governments of various stripes have promised radical change to solve England's housing crisis and today's White Paper is no exception.
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Tanzania beat Kenya 2-1 on Tuesday to win the inaugural Cecafa Women's Championship in Uganda.
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Young people are on track to be poorer than their parents at every stage of their lives, according to a new report.