Fairfax battles black market for studio apartments

A lack of affordable housing in Fairfax County has spawned a black market for studio apartments and county officials are now scrambling to shut down the illegal apartment business without undermining the supply of cheaper housing.

Responding to a jump in demand for studio apartments, county residents have started building illegal studio apartments in their homes, renting them to people who, struggling with the recession, have been shunning the more expensive one- and two-bedroom apartments that dominate the local rental market.