The government said it's seeking HK$32.5 billion dollars from the legislature to further develop new towns in Kwu Tung North and Fanling North.

The sites used to be part of development plans for the northeastern New Territories, and are now included in the Northern Metropolis mega project.

In the latest documents submitted to Legco, development officials said 70 percent of the funds will be used on roads and infrastructure works.

The government would also have to buy some private land and move more than 1,000 households currently living on the plots, although more than 60 percent of the nearly 250 hectares to be developed was already in public hands.

The new towns would provide some 65,000 homes, including nearly 40,000 public housing flats.

If lawmakers approve the funding request, officials want to start work in the middle of this year, with the aim of having the first residents moving into the development in five years.

This is the second phase of development of the northern parts of Kwu Tung and Fanling.

The first phase, covering 73 hectares, is partly finished. A private housing block was completed two years ago and people can move into the first batch of public housing there in two years.

"Although the development area of [the second] phase is much larger, the Civil Engineering and Development Department has made endeavours to compress the construction time so that [the second] phase can be completed in about 7.5 years, similar to first phase," the Development Bureau said.