Council tenants in Haringey have been barred from fitting their own external doors and windows in a bid to improve safety following the Grenfell Tower fire.

The policy change, approved at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, means external doors and windows on council-owned buildings can only be installed by the local authority and its contractors.

Risk assessments were carried out on council buildings after the Grenfell Fire in 2017. Following this, health and safety teams at Homes for Haringey, the council’s housing arm, raised concerns changes made by leaseholders could affect the safety of buildings if a fire broke out.

But leaseholders and opposition leader Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison raised concerns about the standard of work carried out by the council’s housing arm.

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, one leaseholder, Gaby, said she had been “feeling unsafe for years” because Homes for Haringey had not replaced a “flimsy” door to her flat.

She said: “I really hope you will consider that one of the things that matters to people in their own homes is that they feel safe and secure, and that if they were to install their doors with all the fire safety regulations in place, people should have a choice to do so.”

Cllr Cawley-Harrison (Lib Dem, Crouch End) told councillors that following work carried out by Homes for Haringey, one resident in his ward was left with windows “secured solely with expanded foam”, “gaps left around the windows where you could see straight through to the outside” and “no safety catches”.

The opposition leader asked what the council would do “to ensure this standard of appalling and unsafe work never happens again”.

Cabinet member for housing and estate renewal Cllr Emine Ibrahim encouraged leaseholders who had concerns about Homes for Haringey to report them.

Cllr Ibrahim said: “We did not take the decision to change the leaseholders’ alterations policy lightly.

“It is our view that continuing to allow leaseholders and their contractors to fit their own windows and doors could increase the risk of fire in our buildings and runs contrary to our overwhelming duty as the freeholder, which is to keep all of our buildings safe.

“If leaseholders believe that the council is in breach of its obligations in relation to maintenance, they have the right to make a claim of disrepair against the council.

“In the event that a leaseholder believes the quality of the work carried out by the council is not sufficient, or the costs are not reasonable, they absolutely have the right to make an application to the first tier tribunal to seek redress for that.”

Sean McLaughlin, managing director at Homes for Haringey, admitted that in terms of the volume of work carried out by the housing arm “the levels of complaints are higher than I would like them to be”. He added that work was being carried out to improve the service.

Cabinet members unanimously approved the policy change following the debate.