Officially, the number of subdivided flats has risen by 2,100 to 87,600 over the past year. Despite the shoe-box size, the per-square-foot price of such units may be even higher than many luxury apartments. Typically, a partition no bigger than the size of a bed may already cost a few thousand dollars a month. Recently, the limit has been stretched further, with a single flat carved up into upper and lower levels of capsule-like living spaces.

The recent downturn in property prices at some residential sites may provide some relief to tenants and buyers. But whether it has trickled down to the subdivided flat market remains to be seen. Many low income earners are forced to stay in such appalling conditions pending the allocation of public housing. As the queue for public housing lengthens, the demand for such interim housing options also surges. Although many subdivided flats were illegally converted and have become serious safety hazards, the high demand makes a total ban unrealistic.

That the housing target has to be revised in just a year is lamentable. The previous one took a great effort to be hammered out. The amendment may be necessary from a statistics point of view, as the city’s population projection has recently been revised by the government. A reduction of 20,000 units during a span of 10 years may not be much. But as housing minister Anthony Cheung Bing-leung conceded, it would add to the uncertainty in supply beyond 2020. The reduced target does not instil public confidence in the government’s determination to adjust prices through adequate supply.