The buyout notice went up at the temp housing office in Sham Shui Po last week. For a typical subdivided flat in the affected block, the assessed value runs near HK$380,000. Forty-three families. Deadline for acceptance: June 30. The following Monday, the Housing Bureau and Fire Services Department put out a consultation paper on fire safety in pre-1960 tenement stock, asking for public responses by August 15.

The consultation closes August 15. Six weeks after the buyout. A family that turns down the HK$380,000 assessment and waits for policy to settle will wait past its own deadline. A family that accepts enters the private market, where a comparable unit in the same district currently asks between HK$420,000 and HK$490,000. The Housing Bureau's acceptance window for the Sham Shui Po block closes June 30.