Tai Po fire: Some survivors wary over resettlement plan after ‘ignored’ calls to rebuild on site

2026-03-01 - 01:04

After Hong Kong authorities signalled that new legislation could be passed to forcibly acquire title deeds from homeowners at the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, Jason Kong started to feel the squeeze. Wang Fuk Court resident Jason Kong in his new temporary housing unit in Hung Shui Kiu. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. “It feels like we’re being pressured,” Kong, who owns a flat on the estate, told HKFP on Tuesday, a day after deputy finance chief Michael Wong urged homeowners to accept a government buyout earlier this week. Kong added that the wishes of some owners had not been respected. “This isn’t how things should work; you need to find a win-win solution,” he said. Wong first announced the long-term resettlement plan for residents on February 21, saying the government would purchase the charred flats back at HK$8,000 or HK$10,500 per square foot, depending on whether the premiums for the homes had been paid. See also: ‘Gov’t should bear greatest responsibility’: Tai Po fire survivors recall futile whistle-blowing attempts Two days later, Wong, who chairs the government task force on emergency accommodation arrangements for Wang Fuk Court residents, spoke about the buyout plan at the legislature. “I advise them to seriously consider this offer,” he said, referring to the residents. “There is no effective market mechanism” to handle the flats that had plummeted in value, he added. More than 4,600 residents lived in nearly 2,000 flats at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate in Tai Po, when a massive blaze ripped through seven of its eight buildings in late November. The inferno – the city’s deadliest in nearly eight decades – killed 168 people and displaced thousands of residents. The residential estate Wang Fuk Court overlooking Tolo Harbour on January 30, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The full buyout for seven of the eight buildings at Wang Fuk Court will cost some HK$6.8 billion. During the budget speech on Wednesday, finance chief Paul Chan gave more details on the funding: HK$4 billion to be funded by taxpayers and the remaining HK$2.8 billion from a relief fund largely made up of donations from private entities and individuals. Wong also said on Monday that the government would consider those who refuse to sell their title deeds on a compassionate basis, but acquiring the flats through the bill could mean the “holdouts” – in lawmaker Junius Ho’s words – would be compensated for less than what the government is currently offering. He said: “If there is a small number of owners who refuse to sell [their property rights], will this be handled with special legislation? We will discuss this matter in the future.” Rebuilding ruled out Kong, the flat owner, had previously said in a government survey that he wanted Wang Fuk Court to be rebuilt on the same site in Tai Po – an option that has been ruled out in the government’s resettlement plan due to the lengthy time required. According to the government survey, 22 per cent of the 431 households that responded to the questionnaire supported on-site redevelopment but were open to other options, while another 9 per cent only accepted rebuilding the estate on the original site. Others opted for resettlement at other government-subsidised estates, such as Kai Yeung Court in Kai Tak and Shing Chi Court in Kowloon Bay. Hong Kong Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong addresses the Legislative Council on January 14, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. “The residents have diverse opinions,” Kong told HKFP after meeting other former Wang Fuk Court residents over dinner. “Some of them aren’t young anymore, so they might want to settle down sooner... but that doesn’t mean our demand [to return to the estate] can be ignored,” he said. In mid-January, more than 1,100 homeowners from around 400 households petitioned to rebuild the complex on the same site. When announcing the long-term resettlement plan for residents on Saturday, deputy finance chief Wong said that the government would not buy out Wang Chi House, the sole building at the estate left unscathed by the fire. Kong, who lived in one of the fire-hit blocks, is holding onto hope that he might move into the building that survived the blaze. Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on December 2, 2025, days after a fatal fire engulfed seven of the eight blocks of the residential estate. Photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP. Kong is now in touch with Wang Chi House flat owners who are willing to sell their units. Otherwise, he is looking at a HK$3.5 million buyout price for his 450-square-foot flat, if he accepts the government’s price of HK$8,000 per square foot. ‘How can I choose?’ As part of the resettlement plan, the government has proposed allowing residents displaced by the fire to sell their property titles for cash or move into another government-subsidised estate under a flat-exchange exercise. To buy a similarly sized flat at Kai Yeung Court, where about a fifth of the 1,840 units are two-bedroom flats measuring over 400 square feet, Kong will need to pay an extra HK$1 million through a mortgage on top of the buyout amount. Also among the most popular choices is Shing Chi Court, where 23 per cent of the 1,467 flats are larger than 400 square feet. “And what if I can’t get the flat I want?” he asked. “Will I have to live... somewhere that’s smaller yet more expensive?” Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, pictured on November 29, 2025, in the aftermath of the fatal blaze. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Brian (not his real name), whose family owns a 431-square-foot flat at Wang Fuk Court, said they could get a HK$3.4 million payout if the government purchases the rights to the unit. 💡HKFP grants anonymity to known sources under tightly controlled, limited circumstances defined in our Ethics Code. Among the reasons senior editors may approve the use of anonymity for sources are threats to safety, job security or fears of reprisals. Brian also said the government appeared to have “lowballed” homeowners with the initial estimate of HK$6,000 per square foot for a flat with unpaid premiums, and HK$8,000 for those with paid premiums. He said he believed there was room for a further increase. However, Tony Wan, president of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, said that the new buyout price was already “generous” compared with market rates. Meanwhile, social media users have criticised some survivors for “compensation-seeking” behaviour. The government gives flat owners an August 31 deadline to indicate their preference. Both Kong and Brian called for greater transparency in the process for selecting new flats, expressing their wish that the government would set a deadline only after the conclusion of the independent committee’s probe into the deadly housing complex blaze. Apartments of Wang Fuk Court following a deadly fire on November 27, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The government also says those who sign a provisional agreement by June 30, ahead of the August deadline, will be given priority to choose their flats in September, but residents are sceptical. “How can I choose if I don’t know whether the flats are on the lower or upper floors, or if they’re next to a refuse collection point?” Brian said. Kong lamented the government’s decision to reject some residents’ calls to rebuild the housing complex at its original site. Instead, the seven buildings would be torn down to make way for a park or community facilities. Former veteran legislator Michael Tien suggested rebuilding one block on the original site to accommodate those who insisted on returning to the Tai Po estate, noting that only 9 per cent of the households accepted on-site redevelopment. “Rebuilding a single block solves the problem,” Tien wrote on Facebook on Sunday. Kong agreed. “Just because we’re in the minority doesn’t mean we can be ignored,” he said, adding that the government should still honour the preferences of those who wished to return to the estate. Hongkongers pay tribute to the victims who died in the fatal fire in Tai Po Wang Fuk Court. Photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP. He also said the government could rebuild one block and use the rest of the Tai Po plot for whatever purpose it pleased. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk said on Thursday that authorities would arrange for residents of the seven blocks gutted in the fire to return home and gather personal belongings as early as late April. The announcement came after more than 600 residents petitioned the government to allow residents back into the estate and gather their belongings. Residents said in an accompanying letter addressed to Chief Executive John Lee, Deputy Finance Secretary Wong, and Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak, that returning to the estate to collect their things was their “most humble, yet most urgent wish.”