Hong Kong adds spared Wang Fuk Court block to resettlement plan as most opt to sell

Nearly 80 per cent of homeowners of the only block spared in the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze in Hong Kong have expressed an initial willingness to sell their flats to the government, exceeding the three-quarters threshold set by authorities to extend a resettlement plan to them.Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun said on Tuesday that buying back the 248 flats at Wang Chi House would cost the government about HK$1 billion (US$127.6 million), on top of the roughly HK$6.8 billion needed to purchase the homes in the seven towers destroyed in the blaze.He said housing authorities had contacted about 99 per cent of Wang Chi House homeowners and about 77 per cent had so far indicated their initial interest in joining the long-term resettlement plan by selling their property rights to the government.