Housing Bureau reminds owners of Wang Fuk Court to return "Letter of Acceptance" before deadline
The Housing Bureau today (August 25) reminded owners of the eight buildings from Blocks A to H of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to sign and return the "Letter of Acceptance" at or before 5pm on August 31 if they accept the Government's acquisition offer.
The Housing Bureau, Photo source: reference image
Owners may submit the duly signed "Letter of Acceptance" with the return envelope enclosed with the "Letter of Offer" by post, by hand or by courier to the following address:
Housing Bureau, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government
c/o Wang Fuk Court Property Rights Acquisition Limited
1/F, Block 2, Hong Kong Housing Authority Headquarters,
33 Fat Kwong Street, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong
For owners who opt to send the return by post, the postmark date will be taken as the submission date. Owners must therefore send their return by post before the cut-off time ends on August 31 to ensure the envelope is postmarked with that date. Owners may also choose to submit the return in person to the drop-off box at the above address at or before 5pm on August 31, or hand it over to their designated Engagement Team member.
A spokesman of the Housing Bureau said that in handling the long-term housing arrangement plan for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po (long-term plan), the Government has consistently prioritised empathy as its guiding principle. In setting the acquisition price, the Government takes into account that the residents have lost their homes and suffered significant losses, and their difficult circumstances warrant the understanding and support from society. In addition, the scale and impact of the Wang Fuk Court fire are unprecedented in Hong Kong. The arrangements made for this "special case of exceptional nature" will not constitute a precedent. Therefore, the current acquisition price is about 30 per cent higher than the pre-fire market transaction prices of Wang Fuk Court as assessed by the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, with a view to enabling Wang Fuk Court owners to secure long-term housing. As reflected in the acquisition figures, the vast majority of owners welcome the Government's proposal.
The spokesman said that after the deadline of the long-term plan (i.e. August 31), the unsold titles will be reverted to and be handled through the market mechanism, and owners will inevitably have to bear the risks of not selling their flats before that deadline. The Government does not rule out the need to ultimately handle the unsold flat titles through legislative means.
Wang Fuk Court, Photo by Bastille Post
The Government has reserved over 4 400 flats in a total of 10 development projects of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) and the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) for owners who have sold their titles of Wang Fuk Court flats to the Government to purchase or to participate in the "Flat-for-Flat" arrangement.
The flat selection priority under the Special Sales Exercise will be determined in batches according to the date on which the duly signed "Letter of Acceptance" from the owners is received by the Government. The deadline for the first batch is June 30, and the deadline for the second batch is August 31. The flat selection order for applicants within the same batch will be further determined by their sequence as drawn in a ballot. The ballot and flat selection under the Special Sales Exercise will commence in September.
The Housing Bureau reminds Wang Fuk Court owners that if they have returned the "Letter of Acceptance" but have not yet signed the Agreement for Sale and Purchase, they may still participate in the ballot according to their respective batches. For owners who have already signed the Agreement for Sale and Purchase, thereby legally confirming the sale of their titles to the Government, they will be invited for flat selection. If the titles of the Wang Fuk Court flats have not yet been assigned to the Government, a new flat under the Special Sales Exercise will only be reserved for the owners during the flat selection stage. The HA/HKHS will enter into an Agreement for Sale and Purchase or a Provisional Agreement for Sale and Purchase with the owners for the purchase of the new flat only after the completion and execution of assignment.
The Engagement Team co-ordinated by the Housing Bureau will continue to communicate with Wang Fuk Court owners. If owners have any enquiries, they may contact their designated Engagement Team member or call the hotline at 2129 8133. Owners may also visit the dedicated website for the Wang Fuk Court long-term housing arrangements plan (www.hb.gov.hk/wfc) for further details.
Wang Fuk Court, Photo by Bastille Post
Office of The Ombudsman announces results of direct investigation operation into allocation of public niches
The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:
The Ombudsman, Mr Jack Chan, today (August 25) announced the completion of a direct investigation operation into the allocation of public niches, with 19 improvement recommendations made to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD). The FEHD has accepted all the recommendations.
Over the past few years, more than 90 per cent of deaths in Hong Kong were cremated. In general, the families are inclined to place the ashes of the deceased in columbaria after cremation, or to scatter the ashes in the form of green burials. Since 2019, the public niches managed by the FEHD adopted an extendable lease with a comprehensive allocation exercise conducted once a year. Since the completion of the Tsang Tsui Columbarium in 2020, a pilot scheme has been introduced for monthly allocation of niches there. The Office of The Ombudsman has noted that if applicants for niches in a columbarium other than the Tsang Tsui Columbarium happened to miss the annual application period, they might have to wait nearly a year for the next allocation exercise. Against this background, the Office initiated an inquiry last year and recommended that the FEHD conduct allocation exercises on a monthly or at least quarterly basis rather than once a year. After carefully considering the Office's recommendation, the FEHD has standardised the allocation of available public niches to a monthly basis with effect from August 2026.
Mr Chan said, "Grieving families share the wish to make after-death arrangements for their loved ones respectfully without delay, so that the departed may rest in peace and the living may begin to heal. The Office commends the FEHD for its pragmatic and responsive attitude in adopting our recommendation to conduct allocation exercises monthly rather than yearly. However, the pilot scheme for monthly allocation of niches in the Tsang Tsui Columbarium was introduced as early as 2020, but the FEHD did not extend it to other public columbaria until we made this recommendation in 2025. The Office understands that the FEHD has other considerations. However, with hindsight, if the FEHD would have extended the pilot scheme to other columbaria earlier by, for instance, progressively increasing the frequency of allocations, the inconvenience caused to the public by waiting for the annual allocation could have been avoided, and allocations of the precious public niches could have been expedited. The Office recommends that the FEHD conduct timely reviews with a comprehensive consideration from the perspective of the effective use of public resources as far as practicable and the fulfilment of public demands when introducing pilot schemes for other public services in future."
The Office's investigation also revealed that upon fulfilling specific criteria (one of the criteria is that the application for the cremation of the deceased and the application for a niche are made by the same person), the FEHD's system can generally process applications for public niches made via an online platform and forms by "automatic approval" within one day. On the contrary, it takes an average of 50 days to process applications made by paper forms or email. The Office believes that there are a considerable number of applicants meeting the above specific criteria, but they might not be aware that "automatic approval" would be given to online applications, or the service of the "2 in 1 integrated Cremation and Ashes Handling Application" is available online. In this regard, the Office urges the FEHD to step up its explanations to the public and the funeral industry about the benefits of online applications and the service of the "2 in 1 integrated Cremation and Ashes Handling Application". Meanwhile, the FEHD should review and explore any scope to further streamline the manual administrative procedures of data entry and verification, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of application processing.
Moreover, the FEHD's "After-death Arrangements" thematic website launched in response to recommendations made in the Office's direct investigation operation report on public services relating to after-death arrangements, has consolidated key information from various departments in the form of a simple and easy-to-understand roadmap, guiding bereaved families through the funeral planning process. It is a significant step forward from the perspective of facilitating public access to information, and is worthy of recognition. However, the FEHD's website and the "After-death Arrangements" thematic website both contain information relating to public niches. While some of the information overlaps, the content and wording are not entirely consistent; the FEHD's website provides relatively more information, but the presentation of the content is comparatively disorganised. In this light, the FEHD should consider aligning and consolidating the content of the two websites in accordance with its original objectives in designing them to maintain consistency and improve clarity of the information contained therein.
Mr Chan said, "The Office notes that under the co-ordination of the Digital Policy Office, the FEHD is currently working with the Department of Health, the Immigration Department and the Hospital Authority to develop a one-stop e-service platform covering death registrations, applications for cremation permits and related services. It is a good example of interdepartmental collaboration. The Office highly commends the collaboration and believes that the one-stop function on the platform can achieve a synergistic effect in combination with the information on the 'After-death Arrangements' thematic website. The Office urges the departments concerned to continuously deepen collaboration and press ahead at full steam with this initiative for the benefit of the public."
In the long run, apart from the new public columbarium projects on Lantau Island, in Kwai Chung and Fanling, the FEHD also promotes green burials by providing free ferry services for the scattering of ashes at sea and gardens of remembrance for the scattering of ashes. In recent years, the percentage of ash disposals in the form of green burials has recorded a steady rise. While recognising the FEHD's efforts, the Office encourages the Department to continuously enhance its public burial services and ancillary facilities, make effective use of public resources, and provide the public with efficient, high-quality and sustainable services.
The Office notes that the National 15th Five-Year Plan has proposed to enhance community care services, including the establishment of a comprehensive system for basic burial services. Burial services, touching the lives of countless families, are integral to public welfare. Optimising burial services and ensuring that the deceased are laid to rest with dignity are important measures in alignment with the National 15th Five-Year Plan.
Overall, the Office made 19 recommendations to the FEHD regarding the allocation arrangements for public niches, application and allocation procedures, interdepartmental collaboration, information dissemination and future planning of niches. In addition to the recommendation on shortening the yearly allocation exercise to a monthly or at least quarterly basis has already been implemented as mentioned above. The Office's major recommendations for improvement to the FEHD include:
- step up explaining to the public and the funeral industry about the benefits of making applications for niches via the FEHD's online platform and forms, in parallel with intensified promotion of the "2 in 1 integrated Cremation and Ashes Handling Application", to increase the usage rate of these electronic services;
- regarding the manual procedures of data entry and verification for processing applications made by paper forms and email, proactively streamline administrative procedures, such as exploring the feasibility of introducing AI and promoting the use of optical character recognition technology, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of application processing;
- on the basis of exchanging data among departments as an essential component of the one-stop e-service platform, explore the further streamlining of the procedures for public niche applications and cross-departmental verification of eligibility, with a view to expediting and improving the efficiency of application processing;
- consider aligning the content of the FEHD's website and the "After-death Arrangement"thematic website in accordance with its original objectives in designing them; overlapping content should be organised or consolidated to maintain consistency and improve the clarity of the information disseminated; and
- keep tabs on the demographic trends and projections in Hong Kong, and take corresponding measures at an early stage if adjustments to existing planning of niches are deemed necessary.
The direct investigation operation report is available on the website of the Office of The Ombudsman at www.ombudsman.hk for public information.
The Office of The Ombudsman, today (August 25) announced the results of a direct investigation operation into the allocation of public niches. Photo shows Wo Hop Shek Columbarium Phase VI. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Office of The Ombudsman, today (August 25) announced the results of a direct investigation operation into the allocation of public niches. Photo shows Tsang Tsui Columbarium and Garden of Remembrance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
