The figure of 800,000 public rental housing units is neither a target nor a cap for building such housing.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam made the statement before today's Executive Council meeting.
She said this figure, previously mentioned in a newspaper interview, is not a ceiling on what the Government is willing to produce for Hong Kong people but a stocktaking of existing public rental housing units and those in the pipeline.
She said whether the number will be enough depends on a lot of factors.
"So I'm not talking about putting a cap on the public rental housing programme. I'm sharing with the community my housing philosophy, but that of course is dependent on a number of other factors before we could decide on the split in the newly constructed public housing units between public rental housing, the Green Form and perhaps even the Home Ownership Scheme flats."
She apologised for creating any unnecessary anxiety in the community regarding the matter.
Mrs Lam said housing is not just a simple commercial product or commodity. It is the Government's responsibility to look after the housing needs of Hong Kong people.
In the course of meeting such needs, the Government will continue to build on top of what has been promised in the Long Term Housing Strategy, she said, adding the ultimate solution lies in land supply.
"If there is enough land, the Government has the capacity and the needed resources to continue to build with a view to help the people and families in need."
Mrs Lam also clarified her stance on public rental housing.
"As far as my stance on the public rental housing that is also very clearly stated in the Policy Address, that this is, in terms of housing, the safety net for the grass roots and the less-advantaged families and so I will attach a lot of importance to try to shorten the waiting time for public rental housing units.
"So the idea of building more Green Form subsidised housing for sale is to meet the aspirations of those relatively more well-off tenants in public rental housing who want to buy their own flat instead of continue living in a rental flat."
She said every unit under the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme being sold will produce a vacant public rental housing unit for allocation to other families on the waiting list or will take care of one of the families queuing for public rental housing.
The scheme will not reduce the amount of public rental housing units which can be allocated to families in need, Mrs Lam added.
