A highly-praised affordable housing scheme as been nominated for an award.

The Garmans Field project, Lyme Regis, has been nominated for an award for Affordable Housing Scheme of the Year by the '24 Housing Awards.’

The awards recognise the best the housing sector has to offer.

The Garmans Field project offers locals-only affordable on land donated by the family of a naval hero who fought with Admiral Lord Nelson.

The £2m project aims to help combat a housing crisis in Lyme, where the average price of property is £350,000 - well out of reach for many locals.

To help combat the problem, landowner and entrepreneur David Garman agreed to make available the one-acre plot to the community.

Mr Garman, 95, is a descendant of Admiral John Talbot who served on HMS Victory alongside Nelson in the Napoleonic Wars.

He sold the site for a nominal price to the Lyme Regis Community Land Trust (CLT), a not-for-profit organisation set up to find affordable homes for locals, and the trust secured £2m of public funding to build the new cul-de-sac after planning permission was granted.

The 15 properties - four three-bed, six two-bed and five one-bed homes - will be let to locals who can prove they have lived in Lyme Regis for five out of the past 10 years.

They will pay a rent of no more than 80 per cent of the market value, which is about £800 a month for a three bed house.

The trust has named the new estate Garman's Field in a nod to the philanthropist.

Keith Jenkin, chairman of Lyme Regis CLT, said: “We are absolutely gratified. We have always thought our development was a good one and we are very pleased with the way it came out. We are very gratified to hear other people share our opinion.

Funding for the development has come from the government's Home and Communities Agency with further contributions from West Dorset District Council.

Housing Association Yarlington Housing Group also contributed and will manage the properties.

Of the 15 available homes, Lyme Regis CLT received 258 applications; something Mr Jenkin says signals the need for affordable housing in the area.

The 24 Housing Awards ceremony will take place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, on October 18 and will be hosted by comedian Paul Sinha.