The volume of office space being built or currently in planning at Dublin’s docklands far outweighs the anticipated construction of residential homes, a real estate agent’s analysis has shown.

Figures from Owen Reilly show that office space for around 28,000 workers is currently in planning or being built while, on the residential front, homes for a maximum of 6,500 people are expected to be delivered. That means that for every one person living in the area, there will be more than 4 commuting in to work.

Those figures estimate that there’s around 282,000sq m of office space in planning or under construction, most of which will be completed within two years.

Only 1,865 apartments are in planning stage or under construction, of which about 630 will be delivered within two years. While the total planning capacity of up to 2,600 apartments in the area could ultimately house 6,500 residents, the present plans would only cater for 4,700.

Mr Reilly warned that, as a result of the stock of office space being planned for, most new employees will have to commute from other neighbourhoods, “putting unnecessary additional pressure on our transport infrastructure”.

“We recommend that the regulations on residential density is increased significantly as a matter of urgency to avoid a complete supply/demand mismatch in the Docklands SDZ [strategic development zone],” Mr Reilly said.

“If accommodation is out of reach then we lose people who make the economy work. This could prove detrimental to the potential future growth of major cities,” he added.