Ho resigned on 28 October. Findings released October 29 identify renovation consultant Will Power Architects Company and contractor Prestige Construction & Engineering as the principal parties responsible for the Wang Fuk Court fire and high death toll; officials face a separate investigation.
Hong Kong housing secretary Winnie Ho resigned on 28 October over the Wang Fuk Court fire, which killed 168 people, including a firefighter. Chief Executive John Lee said she bore political responsibility because the Housing Bureau oversees a unit that failed to supervise the renovation, although no personal wrongdoing was found. An independent committee’s findings, released 29 October, identified renovation consultant Will Power Architects Company and main contractor Prestige Construction & Engineering as the principal parties responsible for the fire and high death toll.
The fire broke out on 26 November 2025 at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Tai Po during major renovation work. It engulfed seven buildings and displaced thousands of residents.
The committee said a lit cigarette end likely started the fire on a flat roof between two first-floor apartments at Wang Cheong House; it did not identify the ignition source definitively. It found that foam boards and scaffolding nets and canvases that did not resist fire helped the flames spread. The government’s account described the replacement of fire-resistant nets with unsafe ones as suspected. Altered staircase windows let smoke enter escape routes, while opaque boards blocked views and delayed evacuation. The fire alarm system had also been shut down.
Will Power was appointed to prepare the building inspection report and monitor repairs; Prestige was appointed to carry them out. The committee said both cut corners and deceived regulators. It also found that some building professionals took fees to sign required forms without doing substantive work. The committee said the regulatory system relied heavily on the integrity and professional conduct of industry professionals and contractors.
Oromia’s government pledged action against those responsible. The church says 20 houses were burned and called for residents to be protected.
The committee found shortcomings in the Hong Kong Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit, the Buildings Department, the Fire Services Department and the Labour Department. It assigned the checking unit a greater share of responsibility: despite repeated complaints, the unit did not properly investigate the foam boards or the fire resistance of the scaffolding nets, and it warned consultants and contractors before site inspections.
Lee ordered a separate investigation under the second tier of the Heads of Department Accountability System, commissioned through the Public Service Commission, into officials who oversaw the renovation. He expected 40 to 50 officers to be examined. The investigation will assess individual responsibility, including possible dereliction of duty, violations of departmental regulations and breaches of civil service requirements, and may recommend disciplinary or administrative action if it finds failures; Lee said results were expected within three months of the October 29 announcement.
Lee also announced plans to criminalize bid-rigging in building maintenance, create a cross-departmental crime task force and a Building Maintenance Support & Services Council, share regulatory information across departments and overhaul complaints handling. He said the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme had deficiencies and owners lacked the expertise to protect themselves from fraud; the proposed council would support them during maintenance projects. The planned complaints system would bring complaints to a central system, where senior officials could identify repeated problems. A planned steering committee led by the Chief Secretary will review the inquiry’s recommendations and oversee proposed amendments to six laws for submission to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. These measures have been announced, not enacted.
The committee’s findings do not decide the separate criminal cases. In June, Hong Kong police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption brought 25 charges against seven people and the two renovation companies. The charges include manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempted obstruction of justice and tax evasion. Prosecutors allege failures to supervise materials and work, concealment of Prestige’s litigation history and inflation of its tender score during bidding, and false statements about inspections. As of the October 29 account, the cases had not reached trial.
Police charged Ho Kin-yip, Ng Yeuk, Wong Hap-yin, Will Power and Prestige jointly with five counts of manslaughter. The ICAC also charged those three people and two companies, as well as Hau Wa-kin, Hung Kwok-wai, Chung So-fan and Li Min, with offences including conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempted obstruction of justice and tax evasion.
The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office and Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong praised the government’s response. The affairs office said it demonstrated responsibility and a governing vision that put people first and upheld the rule of law. Bereaved resident Phyllis Lo told Fortune that she saw progress but that one resignation was not enough and justice remained unserved. Displaced resident Dorz Cheung said the news conference focused mostly on the future while residents still faced problems, including taxes connected with buying replacement homes.
The government withheld parts of the committee report to avoid prejudicing the prosecutions and said it would release the full report after the relevant criminal proceedings conclude. The staff investigation’s findings and the proposed reforms are the next steps in the government’s response.
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