Hong Kong authorities estimate that acquiring all homes in the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court will cost around HK$6 billion (US$770 million), with officials saying that rebuilding on the same site was “not really very practical”.

Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun said on Saturday that the site was expected to be repurposed for community facilities rather than housing, citing overseas examples where sites of similar tragedies were rarely redeveloped for residential use. He stressed that “no one will earn big money” from the land in future.

“In this moment, we feel on-site reconstruction is not really very practical,” he told a radio programme. “You look at some experiences abroad, they wouldn’t do that.”

The fire at Wang Fuk Court broke out on November 26, claiming 161 lives and displacing nearly

His remarks followed the release of a government survey on Friday concerning the deadly blaze on November 26, which claimed 161 lives and displaced nearly 5,000 people. The study outlined nine rehousing options for residents, including a “flat-for-flat” exchange or a cash buyout.

Foreign precedents are mixed. The footprints of New York’s World Trade Center and the site of London’s Grenfell Tower have been preserved or set aside for memorials, while the oceanfront site of the Surfside collapse in Florida was auctioned for about US$120 million to a developer building ultra‑luxury condominiums, prompting controversy.