UNITED KINGDOM – The Telegraph reports that British retailer Tesco is planning to help ease the U.K. housing shortage by building new homes on land previously reserved for new supermarkets.

The newspaper writes that Tesco has been criticized for “hoarding land,” adding that estimates show the retailer owns enough land to build 15,000 new homes.

"We are currently working on plans for over 4,000 homes across the U.K., either by building them ourselves or selling our sites to housing developers. In places where we have already delivered housing schemes, for example in Faversham or Highams Park, the feedback from local communities and Councils has been very positive,” a Tesco spokesperson told the newspaper, adding, "We are pleased to be bringing new investment to communities up and down the country and playing our part in meeting local housing needs over the coming years.”

Tesco CEO Philip Clarke recently “called an end to the supermarket ‘space race’ and is instead focusing investment on smaller convenience stores and digital ventures,” writes the newspaper, citing the company’s focus on smaller format convenience stores instead of larger supermarkets.

“As we have previously announced, in response to changing customer shopping habits, we have decided to reduce the amount of new store space we build each year, building fewer large stores. … Where we no longer intend to develop sites, we sell them, lease them or develop them for housing," Clarke was quoted as saying.

Tesco announced earlier today that Clarke will be stepping down as CEO effective October 1,at which time Dave Lewis, currently president of personal care at Unilever, will take over as CEO of Tesco. This follow’s Clarke’s leadership of Tesco’s substantial re-positioning in what they describe as a “challenging” market, and Lewis is expected to bring a fresh perspective to the company. Clarke will stay on until January 2015 in order to assist in the transition.