Does this sound like subsidence?

[lefite]

Have had our house since oct,

House has been fully painted externally approx 2 years ago by previous owner.

House has been fully plastered and decorated internally since around feb/march by us.

I noticed today that there is a slight vertical crack in the external render at the front of the house under neath the 1st floor window.

I've come in to take a look inside and there is a hairline crack showing on the paint at the same position under the window going straight down.

The crack only goes as far as the floor and there is no sign of any cracks appearing anywhere else in the house or downstairs.

It's a Victorian house built around 1900.

Does this sound like it could be subsidence?

[MikeUniformMike]

did you have a full survey? I would say it's movement - common in old buildings - but I am not an expert. Is the window sill cracked?

If you are worried, call in a structural engineer.

[lefite]

Survey didn't show anything. But as far as I remember there wasn't anything visible back then.

We have had faulty drains and mains leak which has since been fixed so hoping it was due to that.

We are in an area with high risk of subsidence though.

[Sallylondon]

My house is full of cracks, some of which were picked up on the survey and others which have appeared in the last 15 years (like yours, it was built around 1900 and newly decorated when I bought it). I have one crack which sounds identical to the one you describe, under a window and right through the thickness of the wall. It's obviously moved slightly at some point, but not significantly over a long period. Keep an eye on it by all means, but I really wouldn't stress about it - a 120 year old house is bound to shift around a bit. Victorian terraces have very shallow foundations.
To put things in perspective, any builder will tell you, tongue in cheek, that you don't need to worry about a crack until you can slip your hand into it.

[lefite]

Thank you sallylondon
That's quite reassuring