The new look Stanhope Estate should be completed by 2012

Ashford Borough Council said the Chrysallis consortium was the preferred bidder for the Stanhope Estate.

It was one of three groups to tender for the project, which was halted last year when the council said it had lost confidence in the group running it.

Councillor Neil Bell said the decision offered more certainty for residents.

"It's been a long time in coming but this is a definite step forward," Mr Bell, the portfolio holder for housing, said.

Flats demolished

"Criticism that it's taken a time would be fair but if you look at where we are now then I think everyone should be reassured and confident we're in the right place now," he added.

Plans to redevelop the estate, built in the 1960s, began in 2004 when two blocks of flats were demolished amid hopes that a �50m regeneration scheme would improve the area.

However, the project ran into trouble last May following Ashford Borough Council's decision to look for new private partners.

Ashford Borough Council said the Chrysallis consortium would work in partnership with the residents of Stanhope to create a project which would make it a community of which local people could be proud.