There is no simple solution to the housing crisis in the UK, but big business and financial institutions think they may have the answer to our housing needs.

Ever since the sell off of council homes, large amounts of the UK housing stock is in the hands of private landlords. There are currently more than 2.5 million private landlords in the UK.

More than 20 per cent of the population rent a home from a private landlord. Fewer people able to buy a home means more people renting.

Despite Government initiatives many are still priced out of buying a home.

Most landlords are individuals with a couple of properties, but a new trend coming to the UK is businesses becoming landlords and owning large numbers of residential property.

Big business and financial institutions are now buying up property and entering the private rental market.

The John Lewis partnership, which has struggled in recent years, has announced plans to build 10,000 houses in the next five years.

The plan would give the struggling retailer some stable income, by turning some of its current and former property portfolio into housing. They also see this as giving new purpose to empty high street buildings and also bringing desperately needed accommodation to city centres.

Banks and financial institutions are also diversifying into buying up property. Britain’s second biggest bank.

The Lloyds group is buying up new build homes with the intention of then letting them out to the country’s growing number of renters.

The banking group plans to buy 50,000 in the next 10 years, making them one of the country’s biggest landlords. Some financial firms are also working with property developers to build to rent.

The build to rent sector is expected to grow from just over 10,000 in the last year, to two million homes within a decade.

While banks building and buying houses to rent may help ease the crisis in rentals, in many cases when buying up new builds they are driving up prices making them unaffordable for first time buyers.

Big business has seen a way to make money amidst a crisis.

By buying up housing they are shoring up years of stable income and profits for themselves.

However, this will mean many will be locked out of joining the housing ladder.

The Government has tried to encourage home ownership, but although generous, many of the schemes available are still unaffordable for those looking to buy a home for the first time.

Banks have seen that this is failing, so are backing a new horse and are entering the profitable private rental market.

Eventually we could see housing in the UK owned by a small number of individuals and big businesses.

Build to rent is always going to be more about making money, than supplying the housing stock we desperately need.

It would be better for society if these big businesses helped families to get onto the housing ladder rather than take the ladder away from them altogether.