The Lebanese government has postponed the demolition of thousands of homes sheltering Syrian refugees after coming under pressure from World Vision and other humanitarian agencies.

At least 15,000 Syrian refugee children are at risk in Arsal, eastern Lebanon, after the Higher Defense council, a military body, said in April that all "semi-permanent structures" built by Syrian refugees using materials other than timber and plastic sheeting in informal camps were to be deconstructed.

Under the new regulations, no permanent walls may be higher than five rows of bricks.

The deadline for the refugees to comply with the requirements was last Sunday, but following appeals from World Vision, Save the Children and the Terre des hommes Foundation, the deadline has been extended to the end of June. 

World Vision Lebanon country director Hans Bederski said families were trying to come into line with the new standards but many need more time to complete the work. 

He said the dismantling process had caused "significant trouble", especially for refugees who struggle with manual labour, such as Nahla, a 40-year-old refugee whose husband is 78 and unable to do any physical work. 

It took her two days to remove the excess bricks from her home using only a small tool.  Her neighbours were unable to help her as they were also hurrying to meet the deadline, and the work caused her hands to swell. 

Many families have had to completely destroy their dwellings and are now rushing to construct new ones that meet the regulations.

One family affected by the changes is now living with neighbours after taking down their tent. The four children spend their day where their old tent was under a big table covered with a blanket to protect themselves from the sun as they cannot be left in the neighbor's tent during the day and there is no safe space for them to play elsewhere.

Mr Bederski said the new regulations were putting children and their families at risk and exposing them to the elements.

"Lebanon has been extremely generous in allowing so many refugees into the country, but the government has publicly stated that it does not want formal camps to be established, and these measures have been put in place to ensure this doesn't happen," he said.

"However, refugees – especially children – must have somewhere safe to sleep at night. Children must be protected, and not subjected to extreme weather conditions which can lead to health problems.

"Refugees are of course worried about replacing brick walls with wood and sheets. Their primary concern is for when winter arrives, which is usually harsh in Arsal and accompanied by a lot of rain, snow and strong winds.

"Refugees complained that last winter even with brick walls, rainwater still managed to enter their homes and roofs could not withstand the snow."