Tesco down plays estate agency move

Tesco has played down reports that it is ready to follow rival Asda into the estate agency business, but admitted that it has considered moving into house sales.

News agency AFX today reported that the supermarket chain was in the final stage of talks with prospective partners and hoping to announce its plans for a trial before the end of the month. A Tesco spokeswoman said: 'We are always looking at new services we can offer. It's one of the things we have looked at, but at the moment we're focussing on other things.'

Last week, Asda revealed it would be piloting an in-store estate agency in 10 stores in the Northeast. If successful, the scheme will be rolled out across the country. The Homes@Supermarkets service involves high-tech touch-screen terminals that allow customers to browse properties for sale in their local area. To sell a property, customers can type in their phone number and a member of staff will call to arrange a valuation and take photos.

The retailer said it hopes to save customers on average£2,000 by offering free Home Information Packs (HIP), comprising a survey, search and land registry information.