Top of the range equipment allowing council house tenants to watch the latest television technology, such as Sky+ and TiVo, could be installed at the tax payers expense.

Croydon Council could have to spend up to £2.5 million installing digital aerials at 888 housing estates before the analogue to digital change-over next year, and is investigating investing up to £700,000 more to allow top of the range equipment like Sky+.

At a Tenants and Leaseholders meeting on Tuesday October 11, councillors were expected to be presented with a report from Bob Richardson, head of planned maintenance and improvements, on the issue.

Integrated Reception Systems (IRS) have been installed in 212 blocks across the borough, 4,180 flats, ahead of the switch-over but these do not have the capability to pause and record live TV, available with Sky+ and TiVo.

A further 6533 flats are not connected to the official council system, though many have illegal satellite disks, and so will not be connected to the council IRS come the analogue to digital switch-over due in April 2012.

Preparing a report for the council, Jack Skinner, a chief engineer, stated: “Consideration is being given to the remaining properties without a council owned IRS... deciding whether the council might have a responsibility, or a desire to provide these with digital television reception facilities and if so, to what extent and what this might cost.”

The predicted cost is between £2 and £2.5 million.

He added the council could look at installing additional equipment at a cost of between £500,000-700,000 to allow the use of Sky+.

Property owners incharge of communal television systems such as found in coucil estates are responsible for ensuring the correct technology is in place to allow tenants to watch digital television, providing the five terrestrial channels, as well as a range of digital channels, before the switch over.

Council houses can be linked to the cable network, but council flats must use satellites.

A spokesman for the council said: “This is still only a discussion about things that might have to be done but also might possibly not.

“If that changes and something is going to be done it will have to go through one of our committees and a further debate will be held at a public meeting.”