Plans to knock down part of a 1950s housing estate and replace it with more than 200 homes have been welcomed by many of the residents that live there - even though it means they will have to move out.

Golding Homes has been given the green light to redevelop the Shepway estate in Maidstone.

One young man, who has lived in a flat on the estate with his partner for six years, said: "I can't wait."

"Our flat is covered in mould - mould in the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room. Once we even had water coming up through the floor."

His only criticism was, he said, that he had heard nothing of the plans from Golding Homes. He said: "I found out when a neighbour across the way told me."

The housing association has been finessing its plans to redevelop Cambridge Crescent for more than 18 months.

The scheme involves demolishing 114 existing homes, largely two-storey blocks of flats, built in the 1950s.

They will be replaced with 236 energy efficient affordable homes.

The shopping parade at Northumberland Court will also go, replaced with a "modern shopping area with improved landscaping and community facilities."

Maidstone council has just granted planning permission for the scheme.

Marion Ring is the ward councillor for Shepway North. She said: "The planning approval is really good for Shepway and I’m really pleased to hear this news”.

Tom Casey, director of development at Golding Homes, said: "We’re delighted to receive planning approval for our proposal to invest in Shepway."

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He said: "This follows our conversations and consultations with the local community over the last 18 months to shape the designs.

"We’re now looking forward to planning the next steps of the project and working together with local residents, businesses and community partners to create a vibrant community where people are proud to live.”

The plan is that the scheme will be developed in three phases over a period of years.

All the businesses in Northumberland Court will eventually have to move - at least temporarily, with the hardware shop Home Flair the first to go as its lease has already expired.

Golding Homes described the scheme as "a multi-million pound project" but declined to name the figure.

Now the scheme has been granted planning permission, the housing association said it would begin detailed consultation with tenants affected by phase one of the plans.

One, Hassan Khurat, who has only been in his flat for six months, said moving out "would be no problem."

He said: "I'll be pleased to get a new house. There are problems here with the bathroom, shower and toilet. There's often no hot water. Quite a few problems really."

But Mr Khurat, a delivery driver, said that beyond a general leaflet he had so far not received any information from Golding Homes about when he would be required to move or where he would go.

He said: "It's not our choice to move, but I will happily do so."

He was particularly attracted by the sound of the new homes being energy efficient. He said:"At the moment the gas meter just eats money."

One young mum who had lived on the estate for 12 years said she thought that pulling the buildings down and starting again would be a good thing.

She said: "It will be a fresh start. There 's a lot of trouble here. There's a lot of anti-social behaviour and there have been two murders that I know of."

She also said that her home suffered from damp and had a problem with the artex falling off the ceiling that Golding Homes had "taken years to fix."

She is phase one of the redevelopment and has been told she will be moved out to Park Wood in January.

But Fay McGrath, who has lived on the estate for 16 years, said: "I don't want to even think about it.

"It's most disturbing. We don't have any problems here and my husband and I don't need to move."

Nearby St Martin's Church will not be affected by the redevelopment plans.

Although all the businesses in Northumberland Court will eventually have to close, they will not all go at once.

The three wings of the court will be demolished in turn and new shops opened before the next block is pulled down, so that residents are not left bereft of facilities.

The 236 new residential units will include two-storey houses, and flats in a mixture of three, four and five storeys.

There will also be 15 new retail units created.

The planning application can be seen here with the planning reference number 22/500638.

Cambridge Way is not affected by the redevelopment.