It is hoped that demolition work to revamp a beleaguered Inverkeithing street will begin next year.
Fife Council agreed that a masterplan be drawn up to inject a new lease of life into the town’s Fraser Avenue.
Its executive committee decided to accelerate the process with the appointment of master planners and the creation of a regeneration brief.
Although the timeline has slipped, work is still progressing, but councillors have been warned “there is a significant amount of work to be undertaken before demolition can commence”.
The local authority has continued to move tenants and residents to empty the street for the eventual demolition.
Tenants who do not want to return to a new home on Fraser Avenue are being rehoused.
So far there are more than 51 empty properties, of which 38 were tenants and 13 were buy-back homes from owners.
The council has housed 26 tenants and six owners or private renters.
Tenants who want to stay in the street are also being decanted while new homes are built.
Plans are under way to see how the demolition programme can be carried out.
It could be that existing flats can be safely taken down and new housing built in a phased programme.
The timescale for razing the street depends on the council’s ability to relocate tenants both within Fraser Avenue and to other parts of the town.
And this in turn is dependent on turnover of housing stock in Inverkeithing, Rosyth and other parts of Fife.
A report before south west Fife councillors added: “Housing is in short supply and turnover is not something that Fife Council can control.”
However, the local authority and its partner, Kingdom Housing Association, hope to start on site with the first phase of demolition and new build in 2016, assuming the first lot of flats can be emptied during this year
Construction work on new houses is likely to start towards the end of 2016.
Committee chairman Bobby Clelland said: “I am pleased with the progress being made on the south-east Inverkeithing regeneration project and happy to see there are regular opportunities for the community to talk to both Kingdom Housing Association and Fife Council about the redevelopment.
“The new homes will be the first affordable housing completed in Inverkeithing since 2010 and the properties will contribute to meeting the wider housing needs in the pressured Inverkeithing area.”