Local residents could prevent a flagship Conservative-led London borough from demolishing two or more of its council estates under powers the government intends to place in the hands of tenants' groups.

Hammersmith and Fulham council – whose leader, Stephen Greenhalgh, has been a key figure in forming local government policy for David Cameron – has been working with the property company Capital & Counties on proposals to redevelop the Gibbs Green and West Kensington estates.

The plans are part of a regeneration scheme for an expensive area of west London that includes the Earls Court conference and exhibition centre.

The estates' tenants and leaseholders' associations hope to use the new powers to take control of the properties and block the possibility of demolition.

The powers came formally into force under the previous government in 2008, but the accompanying regulations required to make them fully effective were not put in place.

However, two letters sent from the communities department to residents' representatives in December state that "the coalition government has agreed to take forward the work to develop regulations to enable the right to transfer" and that the department hopes "to be able to consult on draft regulations early in the new year".

The letters say "tenant-led transfers fit well with the government's localism and big society agendas", and that "transfer can empower local tenants and encourage people to take an active role in their communities".

Another letter from the department to the Inside Housing journal has confirmed that the consultation and draft regulations are being prepared. Details are scheduled to appear on the department's website next month.

Hammersmith and Fulham's regeneration polices have been at the heart of bitter political struggles in that part of the capital, with the Labour MP Andy Slaughter condemning them as a form of "social cleansing" and covert gerrymandering in advance of his successful, closely-fought campaign to retain a local parliamentary seat at last year's general election.

Greenhalgh has dismissed these claims, arguing that the borough's existing estates perpetuate social disadvantage and that their occupants' life chances would be improved if they instead lived in new "mixed communities" incorporating better employment options.

The council has identified five "opportunity areas" in its 20-year local development strategy, of which the Earls Court district is one.

The five areas encompass several other estates. Some residents of these have also expressed concern about the council's intentions, though the authority says est Kensington and Gibbs Green are the only ones "where we are in discussions about possible future plans".

It played down the significance of the government's move towards a "right to transfer", pointing out that the relevant legal clauses – which were inserted into the Housing Act (1985) as section 34A – say the regulations may oblige local authorities only to work with tenants to explore alternative ownership options and would require them to be balloted about any proposed stock transfer.

In a statement, it said it believed the tenants and residents' associations of Gibbs Green and West Kensington were not "now representative of residents on the two estates".

The statement also said: "We have been working closely with residents, including the former chairs of both Gibbs Green and West Kensington TRAs, to produce a legally binding set of assurances about the benefits for them should their estates be included in any redevelopment."

They say they are nonetheless willing to talk to the two associations under their current leaderships.

However, the associations complained in August to the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, that Hammersmith and Fulham was "unwilling to devolve ownership to local people" under the Act as it stands and urged him to make "the regulations requiring it to co-operate".

They are claiming the government's move in that direction as a major victory that will effectively force Hammersmith and Fulham – along with councils across the country – to help tenants' groups to get what they want.

The communities department has been approached for a comment on the "right to transfer" regulations, but has yet to respond.

• On Dave Hill's London blog: Housing powers: Hammersmith, Fulham and Shirley Porter