A group of Bristol residents are sharing £2.5 million in a deal with a housing company which is building affordable homes in their gardens.

Linden Homes will build 22 houses and 34 apartments on land off Wells Road, David's Road and Woodleigh Gardens, Whitchurch.

All the properties will be part buy - part rent to allow first time buyers to get a foot on the property ladder.

The scheme has taken three years to get to the building stage and nearly didn't happen because of the credit crunch.

But now the diggers have moved onto the first site in David's Road where the man who instigated the project, Chris Hall, saw his detached house demolished.

Mr Hall, 44, who runs a carpentry business, bought the house three years ago with the intention of doing it up and getting permission for a bungalow in the 200ft garden.

Planning consent was given but the city council said it could hinder a future development by Linden Homes which was already building houses further along Wells Road.

Mr Hall said: "We rang Linden and asked if they were interested in building behind David's Road and they visited us and said yes.

"At the time only 12 residents were involved and the plan was to build 22 three and bedroom houses.

"The council turned it down because they knew other people were interested and if a scheme goes over 24 properties, some of them have to be affordable.

Retired civil servant Geoff Perrett, 64, who has sold part of his garden in David's Road, said: "I was opposed to building houses in the gardens at the time. My garden is a bit of a wildlife haven.

"But I thought if you can't beat them, join them."

His wife Shirley, 53, has been able to retire from her job as a civil servant early because of the project.

The couple plan to buy a boat.

Derek Davidge, 70, who ran a chain of video stores before retiring, sold part of his back 300ft back garden in Wells Road.

He said: "I will only be able to see the tops of the new houses from my house. Privacy was a big thing for a lot of people.

"A neighbour has been able to help both his children get on the housing ladder because of this and someone else shared their money with their children."

Mr Hall said: "We had a lot of input, from what type of fencing was used to the positioning of the properties. We couldn't have done any more without building it ourselves.

"As a group of residents we are, on the whole, really pleased with the affordable issue as many of us have children that have little or no chance to step onto the housing ladder.

"We have taken three years almost to the day to achieve our deal and yes we are being paid for our land but for Whitchurch we feel it's great to have a good mix of units on a scheme.

"So many schemes are full of large detached or mews houses. While we accept this frees up houses in the chain it really is refreshing to have a new scheme that caters for the younger members of our community.

"It's just a shame that it has taken the new build housing market to collapse to achieve this"

Linden Homes was able to get money the government has made available to help build affordable homes.