The number of new homes and extensions being built is expected to rise this year with an increase in planning applications recorded in at least 10 counties in the final months of 2013, according to new figures.

The latest National Housing Construction Index shows a 1 per cent decline in planning applications last year. Overall, a total of 12331 applications were filed in 2013, compared to 12471 a year earlier. Leitrim recorded the biggest fall in applications filed, down 27 per cent year-on-year, while Dublin recorded the highest rise, up 12 per cent.

While the number of planning applications filed in 2013 was marginally down, improved consumer sentiment, together with recent budgetary measures introduced in the last budget, led to a rise in new projects in the final months of 2013 which has continued into this year.

The number of project commencements that have started or are about to start within weeks, have seen significant growth, with increases in eight counties (Roscommon, Wicklow, Monaghan, Dublin, Carlow, Wexford, Meath and Longford).

Overall, there was a 4 per cent national decrease in project commencements last year compared to 2012, with Westmeath seeing a 38 per cent decline and Roscommon, a 45 per cent increase.

Commencements were up 15 per cent in Dublin, with a total of 1222 projects beginning in 2013 in the capital.

The National Housing Construction Index shows us that the trend has turned in the housing construction sector," said Danny O'Shea, managing director of Link2Plans, which commissioned the research.

“From the middle of 2013, a definite trend has emerged and with the increased focus on new building regulations, it is likely that an exceptionally sharp increase in projects were commenced in the first two months of 2014, which will be evident in the next edition of the National Housing Construction Index,” he added.