Tesco makes move on property market

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 02-Jul-07, 09:00

LONDON - Tesco is taking on estate agents with the launch of an online service for people selling their home privately, allowing them to list their house for a flat fee of £199.

The service includes the supply of a "for sale" board and the ability to upload a description of the property, arrange viewings and to vet buyers via the site, Tescopropertymarket.com.

Tesco's Mark Davis told The Sun newspaper: "This is going to revolutionise the property market. If people still want to use estate agents then they can, but we are going to give them all the tools to do it themselves."

Estate agents have reacted to the launch with suspicion and Tesco has been unable to convince major property listings websites, such as Rightmove and Propertyfinder, to support its site.

These sites only feature properties which are on the books of estate agents, and have said it is against the interest of their estate agent customers for them to supply data for Tesco's.

Warren Bright, chief executive of Propertyfinder, said: "[Tesco] wanted to position their private sellers at the top of their listings, followed by our listings. They won't be getting feed from us."

However, Fish4homes and Smartnewhomes have allowed Tesco to list its properties on their site.