A PILOT scheme to allow supermarkets to sell homes could be the beginning of the end for independent estate agencies, a law firm is warning.

Those who use the system, which will be trialled in ten Asda stores in the Sunderland area this summer, will pay lower than average estate agency fees and receive a free Home Information Pack as part of the deal.

However, Gordon Brown, senior partner and conveyancing expert at North-East law firm Gordon Brown Associates, said that could price all local independent agencies out of the market and out of business.

Mr Brown has written to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to ask how smaller businesses such as his can compete with such powerful corporations as Asda.

The pilot scheme could be extended nationwide by the end of the year.

Home Information Packs (HIPs) contain details of property surveys and other information to inform property purchasers before they offer to buy a property and are expected to cost vendors up to £1,000. They will become compulsory from June next year.