Supermarket giant Tesco is considering branching out into estate agency by selling homes through its website, it was reported today.

The group is believed to be in talks with a specialist internet developer to enable people to sell their homes online through its site, according to The Grocer magazine.

The supermarket made profits of £2 billion last year, and £1 in every £8 spent on the high street currently goes into Tesco’s tills. The retailer has already taken on chemists and music retailers, and is thought to be keen to expand into other areas.

It recently launched a new online diet service to help people plan weight loss regimes. Moving into property sales would also give the group a chance to cross sell its financial products, such as home insurance and mortgages, which it offers in association with First Active.

Tesco said it had no current plans to launch a property service, but added that it was looking at ways to expand its online services.

It said: "Customers expect us to look at lots of different new ways we could extend our online services.

"We’ve made it clear our focus at the moment is to concentrate on the new businesses we launched last year - ediets, Tesco Jersey and DVD rental.

"We have no current plans to launch a housing service."

The supermarket is thought to be keen to tap into the public’s growing resentment of estate agents, with many people feeling they offer poor value and poor service.

Estate agents typically charge between 1 per cent and 2 per cet of a property’s value to market it, and it is thought that Tesco could sell homes online much cheaper.

Consumer group Which? recently criticised estate agents saying their property valuations were a lottery, with suggested asking prices varying by up to six figures on the same home, while the Ombudsman for Estate Agents recently called for it to be made compulsory for all agents to belong to a redress scheme.

Tesco also announced today that workers are set to share £220 million in what is believed to be the UK’s biggest staff bonus.