Hong Kong housing secretary resigns after Tai Po fire inquiry finds oversight failures

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu apologised for the fire and said the housing secretary had stepped down, according to reports by France 24 and Bloomberg Markets. The resignation followed scrutiny of the government department responsible for supervising work at Wang Fuk Court, where the fire occurred in November 2025.

The investigation identified failures by the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit in carrying out its duties, according to The Hindu and France 24. The findings placed the focus on the bureau’s oversight of maintenance work rather than establishing a broader explanation for the fire in the supplied evidence.

The fire killed 168 people, injured 79 and displaced thousands of others, France 24 reported. Its scale has made the resignation a significant accountability measure, although the available reports do not establish whether responsibility extends beyond the failures identified in the checking unit.

The South China Morning Post reported that Ho submitted her resignation to Lee on the day before its report was published and accepted political responsibility for the Tai Po fire. The newspaper also reported that she was, at that time, the only minister-level official to have resigned over the incident.

Further accountability measures remain unresolved in the supplied reports. France 24 reported that a three-month investigation into conduct would follow, while authorities had proposed criminalising bid rigging linked to the building’s US$38 million renovation contract. The evidence does not establish the outcome of the conduct inquiry or whether the proposed legal change was adopted.