Nearly 80 per cent of homeowners of the only block spared in the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze 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...