If you think you’ll find them on Rightmove, you’re mistaken. This market is more analogue. Think postcards in shop windows, paper tear-off-strips on lamp posts and word-of-mouth. Non traceable. Non digital. Non identifiable.
Cash is king in the black market rental economy. So is a lack of contracts and any tenant rights. Forget any of the laws the Government introduced to protect tenants, because in this world, the rules don’t exist. These tenants live in a parallel world. It is not a world that Khan in his air-conditioned office can even imagine.
As a private landlord who abides by the rules – and believes in (most) regulation – it’s a frustrating situation to be in. Meeting the ever-changing guidelines is expensive. Trying to do the right thing is hard work. But most annoying of all is watching and understanding why the rental market is falling apart.
There are rich pickings on offer for landlords who don’t want to abide by the rules. It’s tempting to think of the money I could make, the freedom I would have to pick and choose my tenants. In the black market economy you don’t wait around for years to evict a tenant. If they don’t pay, they don’t stay.
There is no cumbersome paperwork or thought for deposit protection. Section 21 isn’t a thing. In that market, it’s a basic exchange of money for the use of property.