Lives could be at risk in council housing blocks because leaseholders are not required to have their boilers checked, Lambeth tenants have warned.

It is not known if thousands of properties in council blocks which are owned by leaseholders have dangerous boilers.

Council housing bosses promised last week to look at the possibility of changing leases so homeowners are legally obliged to have their boilers inspected.

Currently it is at owners’ discretion, but tenants have warned faulty boilers were a fire risk that affected entire housing blocks.

At a meeting of the tenants council last week, Norah Anne, the chair of the borough’s leasehold council, said: “It's an issue that is very serious.

"These unchecked boilers are a potential fire trap that put the lives of everyone who live in the blocks where they are at risk.”

Housing officers said they would look in to the possibility of changing the terms of future leases so boiler inspections were required by law.

They said it is currently a stipulation of all tenancy agreements in the borough, and all tenants’ boilers have now been inspected by the council and fixed if necessary.

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