Subsidence - just moved in

[arikel]

Hi all
We very recently moved into a house which on structural survey had no signs of subsidence. However, now we are here I'm wondering if it in fact does and was well covered up by the previous owner with new wallpaper (some sagging above window frames on second floor) and new plasterboard.
I may be being completely paranoid which DH thinks... however, if there is subsidence is there any legal recourse given that we have only just moved in? I'm guessing not...
Attached picture with some examples of cracking - also some around window frames well covered by shutters at time of sale..
it's a 30s house so some issues to be expected for sure
I adore the house but I can't shake the feeling all isn't 100% where DH can!

Although IANASE that doesn’t look like proper subsidence, it’s hairline cracks which most properties will have to some degree. I believe it’s more worrying if the cracks are in a step pattern diagonally rather than following edges, and also that you don’t need to start worrying unless you can get your fingers in the cracks. Just my 2p.

I would say your only potential recourse is against the surveyor although their report is probably full of caveats.

You'd need to establish if it is subsidence first. You should notify your insurer and they may carry out some monitoring for you. You can go from there.

Doesn't look like subsidence to me, looks like normal settling movement and hairline cracks. But if you are worried get a suitably qualified person to take a look.

I'm a building surveyor, the cracks in those photos wouldn't be of concern to me.

They look like normal hair line cracks in the plaster to me too.

Houses move, earth moves, different types of material react against one another. Old houses move, new houses move. Those cracks don't look like anything to be concerned about. My house has loads...brought about by hot summers, new extensions, laying a new patio, etc. If it didn't arise in your survey, it's very unlikely to be subsidence.

That's not subsidence, it's just hairline cracks from normal movement.

@kirinm

I would say your only potential recourse is against the surveyor although their report is probably full of caveats.

You'd need to establish if it is subsidence first. You should notify your insurer and they may carry out some monitoring for you. You can go from there.

DO NOT CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE CO!

If needs be, ask a builder or a surveyor to have a look. And only contact your insurers if there is a pretty strong steer that it is subsidence or other structural problems.

If you contact your insurers and ask them to check for subsidence, they will investigate, tell you no, if there is none, and then forever more you will have to say on insurance forms that it has been investigated for subsidence, and even though there is none, your premiums will go up and future buyers will be jittery.

I know because this has happened to 2 friends of mine, neither of whom had actual subsidence!

I’d go with settlement rather than subsidence too. Our house has quite a few like this, particularly where new windows have gone in and they expand differently to the old ones.

Another one here saying not subsidence, just normal cracks. A mixture of settlement, hot weather, materials.

Got loads of these around, especially when we had the really hot weather couple of years back. Perfectly normal.

This is a pretty good summary about cracks:

www.comparethemarket.com/home-insurance/content/cracks-in-walls/

If the house has been replastered fairly recently it could be the joints of the plaster board. They look very much like plaster cracks. New plaster has a tendency to crack especially if you have the central heating on.
Subsidence cracks are larger, I once saw a fantastic one that was floor to ceiling and 4 inches wide! You would also see evidence on the outside of the building
The sagging window frames are probably caused by a lack of lintels. Lintels have been a good idea for hundreds of years but only a requirement of building regs for a few decades. I had to have lintels put in a 1970s property

I've had subsidence and no, those cracks would not worry me remotely. Fill em in and repaint.

Thanks all. I'm super paranoid but this has been reassuring! Appreciate it. Fingers crossed no issues arise.

We have a 1930s semi, was in awful condition when we bought it. Have since replastered and have cracks everywhere but it's just settling. Not subsidence. Cracks would be much much bigger.

I live in a four hundred year old house. We have cracks everywhere. In fact last year I personally plastered over the ones in one of the bedrooms and repainted. It’s totally normal for plaster to crack.

Unless you have always lived in new builds I’m surprised you’ve never seen it, nearly every single house as these.

If you're really worried, just keep an eye on them, maybe take photos over time to see if they grow, but as others have said they don't look too concerning (we had subsidence that only caused cosmetic damage and the cracks looked much bigger and scarier than that!!)

If it’s subsidence, you will see cracks on the outside! In the bricks or render. These look like minor shrinkage cracks to me. Subsidence is always visible externally!

They look like thermal cracks to me (i.e., just cosmetic issue, no cause for real concern). Was the property empty for a while before you moved in? An empty home that's been through a hot summer without anyone there to open the windows, then a cold winter without anyone turning the heating on, can crack a bit. Especially if you then move in and warm it up/cool it down. I have exactly the same type of cracks in my house and I was also really worried about subsidence. I had a builder check everything to put my mind at rest. My DP thought I was being completely neurotic/paranoid, but we hadn't had a full survey (just the bank's one), and I was very, very concerned!
Subsidence cracks, from what I understand, you'd also see on the outside of the house, and they would be a lot bigger than what you have in those photos.

I had cracks like this in my house too and was worried, but surveyor seemed unconcerned. He said that cracks around windows can occur in older houses that originally would have had timber windows. PVC windows don't provide the same level of support so he suggested just getting extra supports put in when the windows are changed.

Slightly different but a couple of months after we moved into our house we noticed one wall had very obvious rising damp that hadn't been picked up in the survey. We got someone out to quote to fix it and it turned out they'd actually been out to quote for the same issue for the previous owners about a year before. We contacted the surveyors and asked how they'd missed a proven existing issue and they paid out in full for the work to be completed. I guess the issue in your case is that you have no way of proving that the issue was there before you moved in?