Is subsidence more of a worry in 2025?

The changing weather patterns in 2025 have significantly increased subsidence risk for UK homeowners.

Foundations of homes, especially Victorian and Edwardian properties, were never designed for today's extreme climate shifts. Britain's once temperate weather has given way to scorching heat waves and destructive flash-floods, putting traditional shallow foundations under unprecedented stress, particularly in clay soil areas.

Why is this a problem for homeowners and those looking at buying older properties? With the extremes of the weather - lurching from very wet to very hot and dry - comes the potential for subsidence.

Subsidence occurs where the soil around the foundations dries out creating a void into which the weight of the building above slips, creating the tell-tale cracks along the walls. It can also be prevalent where running water washes away the soil even gradually and again opening up pockets into which the weight of the property then drops.

The frequent amount of rain followed by a series of very dry weeks only serves to exacerbate the problem further and therefore increase the risk of subsidence over time.

Ground engineering experts, Mainmark, have suggested that Victorian and Edwardian properties are particularly susceptible to the problem since they were never engineered to cope with such changes to the environment.

As Property Reporter comments in their article on the findings, many of the homes are built on relatively shallow foundations - some as little as 20cm in depth - which means that the ever-changing moisture levels in the soil surrounding the foundations are more susceptible to the vagaries of subsidence, especially if the principal constituent of that soil is clay.

An expert at Mainmark is quoted as saying that the most significant changes in the soil structure occurs on the surface, which, since the foundations of these older properties are generally shallower, the problem is becoming increasingly critical to manage.

This is a major problem for homes that come with original bay windows, since these features were designed to have even shallower foundations because they are designed not to be as weight- and load-bearing as the other walls in the property's structure.

However, despite such dire warnings and worrying news that subsidence might be a growing problem, particularly in the older houses, it doesn't mean that the property you currently have or are planning to buy is definitely going to have a problem with it. 

If you have any concerns about whether you have a current problem with subsidence or you are worried that you might experience such issues in the future, you can always bring in a qualified chartered surveyor to assess the structural stability and condition of the property and its foundations.

A detailed survey will give you all the information you need as to what your next steps are going to be, particularly if you are planning to buy a period property and want to know what costs are likely to be coming your way to manage such problems in the future - perhaps even using the findings and the suggested costs to renegotiate the asking price to help offset the bill for any remedial work.

When it comes to buying your next property, you'll want to ensure that it is structurally sound and is fit for habitation, while protecting your investment for the future. If you are looking for a detailed structural survey on the home you are planning on buying by an experienced and conscientious chartered surveyor, so that you know what you need to budget for remedial projects and maintenance, then look no further than Surveyor Local.

At Surveyor Local, we only work with chartered surveyors who are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, ensuring the survey you get is always professionally delivered. They will work hard to identify all kinds of problems, including the impact of prior flooding on the structure of the property.

Call to get your no-obligation survey quote started, or to discuss your concerns with the acquisition of your planned property.

Or you can get a quick quote, using Surveyor Local's easy-to-use quote generator.

Simply input your name, postcode, email address, phone number and an approximate value of the property (usually the agreed price), and we'll give you an instant quote for the work (with an email copy).

We'll do the rest once you confirm your acceptance of the quote.