The cost of fitting sprinklers in tower blocks is “very heavy”, the council has said as it decided to wait for more guidance before installing them.

A review of fire safety following the Grenfell Tower blaze revealed the cost of installing sprinkler systems across the 54 high-rise blocks owned by Haringey Council was likely to be a “key issue” for the local authority.

The committee that carried out the review recommended waiting for the outcomes of two public inquiries into fire safety – the Hackitt Review and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry – before deciding whether to retrofit sprinklers.

Sprinklers were not installed in Grenfell Tower, where 72 people lost their lives in a fire that spread rapidly through the building in June 2017.

Some experts believe sprinkler systems would have saved lives by stopping the blaze from spreading.

Chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee Cllr Lucia das Neves was heckled by people sitting in the public gallery as she reported the findings to Haringey’s cabinet on Tuesday (July 9).

Cllr das Neves said: “We felt that, at the moment, there is no conclusive recommendation around sprinklers.

“The two local authorities that presented evidence had reached different views on this matter, so we hope the plans that comes out of Hackitt might well give us some more information and understanding about what should be implemented.

“One of the key issues really is going to be around cost for us and cost across the country.”

The review says the scrutiny committee “noted that the costs of retrofitting of sprinklers were likely to be very heavy though and felt that, with a limited budget, it would be necessary to prioritise installation if it was required”.

According to a similar review carried out by neighbouring Islington Council, it would cost £97 million to retrofit sprinklers in all of its properties of 10 storeys or higher.

A London Assembly report published last year did not recommend installing sprinklers in existing buildings because doing so was “not immediately feasible due to the considerable cost”.

The scrutiny committee’s review says installing sprinklers in flats not designed to accommodate them could breach “compartmentation” measures designed to stop fires from spreading.

It also includes a number of recommendations to ensure residents are better informed about fire safety measures.

Neighbouring Enfield Council recently denied claims it had U-turned on a pledge to fit sprinklers in all of the borough’s tower blocks.

A spokesperson said there had been “no U-turn on the council’s intention to retrofit sprinklers in all our tower blocks, which full council agreed ‘should be funded by Government’ in a motion passed in November 2017”.

Haringey’s cabinet members agreed the recommendations made following the scrutiny review of fire safety.