Hundreds of houses constructed by the company Persimmon Homes are potentially fire risks, according to an investigation by BBC Watchdog Live.
The team at the BBC found that hundreds of new build homes across the country were sold without fire barriers - or sometimes they had been incorrectly installed.
The barriers inhibit the spread of fire by design, and are essential fire protection in new build properties.
In some cases a lack of barriers have been blamed for the destruction of homes in fires.
Building regulations require new homes to have fire protection measures to delay the spread of a fire, which allows time for escape.
In many newly-built homes - especially those with a timber frame - fire barriers are an essential part of the protection.
The barriers work by forming a seal between areas in a home, and experts say without them fire and smoke can spread five to ten times faster.
Industry expert Andrew Mellor told Watchdog Live: “A comparison is if you were to buy a new car and you ultimately found that it didn’t have an airbag in it.
“It’s an integral safety feature within the home.”
Tonight the BBC will reveal that more than 650 houses built by Persimmon Homes were found to have missing or incorrectly installed fire barriers.
Some of these problems have not yet been rectified, with some not even being inspected yet.
Last October Persimmon Homes was embroiled in controversy after its CEO at the time, Jeff Fairburn, received a bonus of £75 million - the biggest in UK corporate history.
This came six months after a Persimmon-built home in Exeter caught fire - which rapidly spread to the adjacent properties.
BBC Watchdog Live also uncovered potentially dangerous fire safety issues in developments in Kent and West Lothian built by Bellway Homes.
The full investigation into fire safety in new build homes can be seen on Watchdog Live, tonight at 8pm on BBC One.
