Such financial issues have caused urban renewal in Sham Shui Po to lag behind the rest of Hong Kong, and have also led to many local poor and immigrants cramming themselves into "cage homes" (" rooms "with walls of iron bars and only big enough for a single bed) and" partitioned homes, "creating a side of Hong Kong many find hard to believe could exist in the prosperous territory.
艱困的經濟條件，不僅讓深水埗屋舍更新的速度在全港殿後，許多專門租給新移民和弱勢者、空間狹小的「籠屋」（只有一個床位，四周圍上鐵籠以防遭竊）和「板間屋」（隔板屋）在此群集，更是富裕香港最令人難堪的一面。