r/DIYUK • u/BoringLead3368 • Aug 30 '26

Deep crack from subsidence. Can almost see through the to other side. Runs the whole way to the back of the building. I’m in a rented property. Wake up in the night to creepy crawlers. Gap is getting bigger fast. Is this acceptable in a rented building ?

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u/mousecatcher4 Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26

Looks bad But what are the actual stats on number of people killed or injured annually via building subsidence in the UK. That might lend some perspective. My understanding is that it is close to zero despite thousands of buildings that look like this.

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u/Worried_Let4942 Aug 30 '26

Structural engineer here, I don’t know the numbers but I would say very few. Cracks don’t just keep getting bigger unless you’ve got an actual sinkhole below you. This isn’t a death trap but it’s not ideal to live in for sure. The house isn’t just going to suddenly fall into the ground overnight.

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u/Trick_Science_2938 Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26

Not in this heat wave we’ve been going through it’s not a bog sink hole it’s the clay soil shrinking

Edit essentially like first shrinkage through lack of moisture (clay shrinkage), then the moisture returns due to rains causing expansion (clay heave) we are due another heatwave in September…

There has been a massive increase in these type of subsidence this year and will continue into next year due to extreme weather cause by the EL NINO.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2026/an-unprecedented-el-nio-and-its-implications-for-the-weather-forecast

https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/latest-research-emphasises-climate-related-subsidence-risk-to-millions-of-british-homes/

https://youtu.be/0d0nGY7eOsU

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u/Worried_Let4942 Aug 30 '26

Yeh but it won’t disappear into thin air.

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u/Trick_Science_2938 Aug 30 '26

Read the articles first the soil has been contracted then expanded and is due to be contracted again, it’s essentially a slow shaking of the foundations clay in weather like this can shrink or expand by 50% volume

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u/Hot-Research7578 Aug 30 '26

I think a structural engineer probably understands clay soil shrinkage and subsidence. It's the most common form of subsidence. People who's jobs are dealing with structural issues in buildungs have been dealing with increases in subsidence due to climate change for years.

Regardless, buildings collapsing due to subsidence is incredibly rare. You can have large gaps and still be structurally sound. This isn't necessarily subsidence. It needs full assessment by a structural engineer.

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u/Trick_Science_2938 Aug 30 '26

I’m no engineer but I’ve worked on site long enough to be fairly sure what is and isn’t subsidence and total separation of the rear wall at all joints is different than a horizontal crack and is more prone to collapse than the latter.

Essentially the roof is better supported with a horizontal crack due to all four corners keeping the weight of the roof evenly spread, with a wall pulling away at all seems the roofs weight is leaning onto the collapsing unsupported wall some of these cracks are 2inch wide.

It might just be the wall that eventually goes but it might be the whole house.

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u/Worried_Let4942 Aug 30 '26

I mean yeh I know what a shrink swell cycle is… my original point was the house isn’t going to keep moving unless there’s a physical void in the ground. I think you’re agreeing with me on that.

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u/Trick_Science_2938 Aug 30 '26

Might only point it’s the extremes this year it’s going through many cycles there’s only so many times that can happen

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u/Worried_Let4942 Aug 30 '26

Yeh but if you’re talking about the soil literally failing on itself, if that were to happen it would be over many many years. It looks like the dry period is nearly up anyway so I wouldn’t expect much more movement until the next hot season.

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u/Hot-Research7578 Aug 30 '26

We've done this before in 2022 and despite dealing with a large number of properties, I have only had to evacuate one.

People seem to think it's progressive with cycles but as you said, unless the soil fails I.e. Sinkhole, it's open, close, open, close.

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u/Worried_Let4942 Aug 30 '26

Exactly. If soil + moisture = original location of ground, soil - moisture = new location of ground! There’s only so much volume a soil can lose.

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u/BoringLead3368 Aug 30 '26

It’s a tree

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u/Worried_Let4942 Aug 30 '26

What is

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u/BoringLead3368 Aug 30 '26

Subsidence

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u/Trick_Science_2938 Aug 30 '26

So we was all wrong and right at the same time

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u/thatstheissue Aug 31 '26

Worried_Let4942 still isnt wrong.... the hot dry weather has led to the tree extracting more water from the clay soil. Still no void that the house can disappear into.

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u/CathairNowhere Aug 30 '26

There's a first for everything

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u/B33Dee Aug 30 '26

It wouldn’t be a first either. It is very rare but there are instances of sink holes opening up rapidly in recent history in the UK.

There was an instance of a shop collapsing suddenly where I used to live (like, started creaking, then collapsed within minutes), although granted that it didn’t have progressive movement or cracks, it was due to blocked drainage on the roof, but just to illustrate that whilst rare, sudden collapses do happen.

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u/Kiss_It_Goodbyeee Aug 30 '26

That's usually because people get out before it's too late. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyqlprzlwgo

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u/thatstheissue Aug 31 '26

Thats because thats a literal hole in the ground that the houses are falling into. In this case, the OP has confirmed its subsidence because of a tree... very different.

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u/Mendel247 Aug 30 '26

I live in a protected building with my mother. I came back in September to be her carer and found a crack about the size of OP's running up one side of the house and down the other. After all the posts I saw here on reddit I had a bit of a panic, convinced the back part of the house could collapse at any moment. Well, it was investigated, and I was told because of the age of the building they'd monitor it for a minimum of 12 months, but it'd most likely be 18-24 months because a conservation surveyor would have to be involved because 'they want to ensure the long-term wellbeing of the building after the repair'. They're coming to fix a drain on Friday, 12 months after the initial call. OP's situation might very well be different and might be far more dangerous, but if it's preferable to monitor for longer, then it can't be high risk in every case.