What age is your house Jason? And have you recently had any works, even redecoration, done either inside or outside?

It’s a 1940s
No recent works moved here last year so the vendors before me may have decorated when putting the property on sale

Hi Jason, 1940's should be cavity walled and likely cement mortar, plaster, etc.

My first thought was that this might be a bit older and the issues may be related to damp entrapped in breathable wall materials behind modern plaster, paint, etc. I still wouldn't rule that out though.

It is a bit strange that they've appeared from nowhere recently, and that a few are above door openings. I think maybe you need a 2nd opinion from a surveyor, maybe without asking about subsidence - there could be other causes. We had a case recently where cracks were related to a large construction project a street away where the ground was disturbed by piling.

It would do no harm to open up one of the larger ones to see if there's any sign of previous repair work - if there's been previous repair then they're continuing to move; if not then it's something new.

Hope that helps in some way. Best of luck.

Thank you, from looking more closely it looks like it was repaired before but I will definitely get a second opinion
Thanks again really appreciate you taking the time

I’m no expert, but I saw subsidence cracks on the outside of my sisters 1950s house and they were nothing like that. Hers were sort of zig zag cracks where the mortar was with a pretty big gap. Yours looks like it’s just been filled badly and then painted over. Of course I may be wrong but I would get a second opinion just to reassure yourself. This is not her house, but this is exactly what she had. She had an extension and the wall was removed and the problem was sorted.

My first thought is water damage. Does the doorway go to a single storey extension?- is the flashing on its way out? Perhaps there is a bathroom above?

Try to find the cause of the issue by looking further than the damage.

Thank you Sonia and Johnathan

Fortunately I don’t have or can see any cracks that look like those you’ve posted so that’s settling but I do also have a pebble dashed property

Apart from this cracking I don’t see any evidence of water damage and even if it was as u can see from the floor plan attached the bathroom isn’t over the living room

There isn’t an extension

What is flashing?

Marked in red is where I see the cracking

That layout maybe tells us something - have there been walls removed within the open-plan kitchen / dining? Could be too much weight bearing on the remaining masonry at the door openings. Compare the layout with your neighbours if they have the same house type. Maybe also check for any past Building Control applications.

@9 yards yes the wall was removed but my conveyancer stated that they did not get any building regs information from the old surveyors as they said it was done but the previous owner (which looks like it could now be a lie) and I looked for building applications and have found nothing at all.
My neighbour has a wrap around but has kept the original wall up between where the kitchen and dining room would have been split

@ Johnathan yeah I’ll have a look to see if there’s any water leaking

I’m assuming too much weight bearing on that wall is my worst case scenario which doesn’t sound like there will be a cheap interim fix 😫

Yes, the weight coming onto such a small section of wall would be my suspicion. Even if this is the problem it needn't necessarily be a massive issue. If there's a decent fiundation below it then it may be a case of rebuilding in blockwork with high compressive strength.

If it were me I'd get a Structural Engineer to look at it but I'd also have a builder there at the same time to open up any ceilings, walls, etc for the Engineer to inspect - otherwise the Engineer would just be guessing at what's behind the plaster, above the ceiling, etc.