RETIREMENT housebuilder Churchill Retirement Living, which has its Midland region office in Bromsgrove, has become the first ever retirement living specialist to win housebuilder of the year at the What House? Awards.

The accolade topped off a successful haul for Churchill, which also came away with a gold award for best medium housebuilder and a silver award for best retirement development.

Spencer McCarthy, Churchill’s chairman and chief executive, said: "I’m extremely proud to have achieved this incredible hat-trick of What House? Awards, topped off with the overall housebuilder of the year. Like most housebuilders we’ve faced plenty of challenges this year, but we’ve worked hard as a team to achieve continued growth and success. To be recognised by the industry in this way is a real testament to the excellence of our people and our product, our superb build quality, our customer service and the way we do business. We’ll keep on investing in the business and we’re in a strong position to keep creating more jobs and building more new communities, both in the Midlands and throughout the UK.”

Now in their 35th year, the What House? Awards are recognised as the biggest event for the nation's new homes builders, and the competition in every category was extremely strong this year. More than 1,700 senior industry figures attended the awards ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, which was hosted by William Hague.