It's interesting you quote the Irish Times, as Ireland is where I had my trouble.

> In Dublin availability was almost double what it was a year ago, with nearly 3,000 homes on the rental market on August 1st compared to fewer than 1,600 in August 2019,

It literally doubled the market, something much needed. And there's honestly probably still more where the owners didn't hop back into long-term rent. Hopefully it stays like this next year when I plan to go do a masters. And that the government works on fixing it.