The Buildings Department approved 23 building plans in January - four on Hong Kong Island, five in Kowloon and 14 in the New Territories.

Four were for apartment and apartment/commercial developments, three were for commercial development, one was for factory and industrial development, and 15 were for community services developments.

That month, 16 building projects were approved for work to start. When finished, they will provide 67,651 square metres of usable domestic floor area and 8,998 square metres of usable non-domestic floor area.

The department also issued 13 occupation permits - five on Hong Kong Island, two in Kowloon and six in the New Territories.

The buildings' usable floor areas for domestic and non-domestic uses were 57,311 square metres and 10,040 square metres respectively.

The total declared cost of the new buildings completed in January was about $1.313 billion.