Tesco entersestate agency market

London: Tesco has taken a leap into the estate agency business by launching a website charging a minimum fixed fee of just £999 (Dh5,524) to sell a home.

The move follows a recommendation from the Office of Fair Trading that the law be changed to provide better value for sellers.

Estate agents usually charge a proportion of the sale price — typically 1.5 to 2 per cent — for their role. This means they can cash in when property prices rise despite doing no extra work.

But a family selling a home for £400,000 could save more than £8,000 through Tesco. The service and website — iSold.com — have been created in partnership with estate agent Spicerhaart. Tesco abandoned a similar estate agency business in 2007 after it fell foul of rules that it had to send someone to each house advertised to make sure the details were accurate.