Asda, the retailer, is launching an estate agency venture which it claims will allow customers to browse for new homes alongside their weekly shopping.

The supermarket is planning to undercut high-street estate agents by selling properties through call-centres.

Touch-screens in Asda stores will contain a database of properties for sale and allow potential purchasers to register their interest.

People who want to look at properties advertised on the screens will then be put in touch with a call centre, where staff will arrange viewings and eventually, it is hoped, sales.

A start-up company called Homes @ Supermarkets based in Hexham, Northumberland, will employ the call-centre staff, estate agents, surveyors and conveyancers that will manage the sales process.

Asda, which is owned by America's Wal-Mart, the world's largest grocer, plans to use this model to undercut traditional high-street estate agencies. Although rates have not yet been confirmed, Asda said vendors could accrue savings of up to £2,000.

Asda financial services director Gev Lynott said: "Customers trust us to be a hub for all the local contacts and information they need. For years, postcards on our community boards have helped customers rent their perfect pad - now we’re going to help them buy it."

The move from the supermarket, which recently lost the No2 spot in the market to Sainsbury, follows the huge popularity of internet sites such as rightmove.co.uk which aggregate information from large numbers of estate agents online.

However, the National Association of Estate Agents today questioned whether Asda's model would work.

Peter Bolton King, the industry body's chief executive, said other high street chains had tried and failed to launch similar ventures in the 1980s, before the advent of the internet.

"Generally the supermarkets have left this area of the business alone. I think they probably had better things to make money on," he said.

"The answer as to whether it will work or not will all depend on the service offered by this central hub."

Asda's property venture also echoes attempts by supermarket retailers to offer financial services to their customers. However, after a bright start, supermarket banking is currently facing mixed fortunes.

The Homes @ Supermarkets scheme will be piloted in 10 branches in the North East from July and rolled out nationally later if successful.

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