The Buildings Department approved 21 building plans in July - six on Hong Kong Island, nine in Kowloon and six in the New Territories.

Twelve were for apartment and apartment-commercial developments, six for commercial developments, two for factory and industrial developments, and one for community services developments.

Consent was given for works to start on eight building projects which will provide 107,100 sq m of gross floor area for domestic use involving 1,620 units, and 25,706 sq m of gross floor area for non-domestic use.

The department issued 23 occupation permits - seven on Hong Kong Island, five in Kowloon and 11 in the New Territories.

Buildings certified for occupation have 189,052 sq m of the gross floor area for domestic use involving 2,932 units, and 192,769 sq m for non-domestic use.

The declared cost of new buildings completed in July was about $11.1billion.