The Buildings Department approved 17 building plans in October - three on Hong Kong Island, four in Kowloon and 10 in the New Territories.

Of the approved plans, four are for apartment and apartment/commercial developments, four are for commercial developments, two for factory and industrial developments and seven for community services developments.

In the same month, consent was given for work to start on 13 building projects that, when completed, will provide 4,533 square metres of gross floor area for domestic use, involving 73 units, and 44,627 square metres of gross floor area for non-domestic use.

The department also issued 10 occupation permits - one on Hong Kong Island, five in Kowloon and four in the New Territories.

Of the buildings certified for occupation, the gross floor areas for domestic uses are 106,640 square metres, involving 1,627 units, and 46,836 square metres for non-domestic use.

New buildings completed valued at about $1.8b

The declared cost of the new buildings completed in October totalled about $1.787 billion.

Meanwhile, six demolition consents involving six building structures were issued.