The first signs can be small – a crack near a door, a window, or on the patio. But for thousands of Britain’s homeowners, especially in London and the South East, they could signal a bigger and more expensive problem after this summer’s heatwaves.
Insurers, building surveyors, property developers and other industry professionals are preparing for a wave of subsidence claims after weeks of relentlessly dry, hot weather.
Anxious homeowners have already taken to swapping photographs and advice online, with just one online forum revealing a litany of complaints.
One homeowner in South London observed cracks appearing in the walls for the first time in five years, as well as cupboard doors sticking.
“Some of my kitchen cupboards overlap each other now,” they said. “My downstairs neighbour has some of the most horrendous cracking I’ve ever seen.
“We live in a hot climate now so we’re going to have to adapt unfortunately.”
But Saul Humphrey, the president of the Chartered Institute of Building, warns that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“I would expect more subsidence and therefore more claims as a consequence of prolonged hot, dry weather, and we are already seeing evidence of that emerging,” he says.
Insurers paid out £72m on domestic subsidence claims during the hottest spring on record for England and Wales, according to data published this month by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The payouts, for the period between April and June, rose from £60m in the same period last year. The average subsidence claim hit a record high of £20,000, rising by £2,000 year on year.
Shaune Worrall, the deputy head of insurance at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, says the industry could face a “double surge” of claims, since many subsidence losses from 2025 are still being processed.
Around £297m was paid out on claims last year, according to the ABI. That is up 6pc from the previous year and up 89pc from 2022. Before this year, 2025 had the warmest spring on record and the driest in more than 50 years.
