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🇭🇰 Hong Kong /Disasters & Emergencies

Tai Po fire: 13 Wang Fuk Court owners reject government buyout as 99% agree to sell

From Hong Kong Free Press · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Hong Kong authorities said 1,971 of Wang Fuk Court’s 1,984 households, or 99.3%, submitted acceptance letters for the government buyout.
  • Thirteen homeowners missed the deadline, while 1,595 owners had signed formal sale and purchase agreements.
  • Authorities said they would continue pursuing the remaining titles, and officials have previously discussed possible legislative measures to acquire unsold units.

Thirteen homeowners at Hong Kong’s fire-damaged Wang Fuk Court have refused, or failed to complete, the government’s buyout process, even as almost every other household agreed to sell.

The deadline for owners to sign and return an acceptance letter passed at 5 p.m. on Monday. In return for their flats, homeowners could choose a cash payment or a new unit in another government-subsidised estate. Housing authorities said 1,971 of the estate’s 1,984 households had submitted the letter, representing 99.3% of all households.

A smaller but substantial group had already moved further through the process. The authorities said 1,595 owners, or 80.9% of all households, had signed formal sale and purchase agreements with government-appointed estate administrators.

I am interested to see how [the government] could make such a law. It would completely ruin Hong Kong.

· Betty HoA Wang Fuk Court homeowner criticized the possibility of legally acquiring flats that owners did not sell voluntarily.

The estate housed 1,984 households across eight buildings before a deadly fire struck in November last year, killing 168 people. The government announced the buyout scheme in February. It set prices at HK$8,000 or HK$10,500 per square foot, depending on whether owners had paid land premiums.

Betty Ho, one of the homeowners who declined to sell, told Hong Kong Free Press that using the law to acquire unsold titles would amount to “robbing” residents of their private property. “I am interested to see how [the government] could make such a law. It would completely ruin Hong Kong,” she said in Cantonese.

Officials have said the deadline would not be extended. Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong, who leads the task force arranging long-term accommodation for residents, said the government could begin legislation to acquire unsold titles as early as next year. He also said compensation under such a process would be “substantially lower” than the expired buyout offer. The government said it would continue handling the remaining acquisitions at full speed.

Substantially lower

· Michael WongHong Kong’s deputy financial secretary described the compensation that could apply if the government acquired unsold titles through legislation.
About this summary

Originally published by Hong Kong Free Press in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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