Where Have We Been? Why So Many Houses Are Cracking This Year: Window Lintel Repair, Subsidence and Brickwork Cracking
You may have noticed we've been a bit quiet out here lately, but we're very much still around. We've been inundated with enquiries and work because of this year's dry weather. If you've spotted damage or cracking on your house recently, read on to find out why you're not the only one.
Why 2026 cracked so many houses
The Met Office has confirmed that summer 2026 was the UK's warmest on record. The average temperature was 16.5°C, which is 1.9°C above the long-term average. The same Met Office review notes the UK hit 35°C in May, June, July and August for the first time on record. England and Wales then had their driest July on record, and more than half of England entered drought.
So why does that crack a house? It comes down to the ground under it. Many soils contain clay that swells when wet and shrinks as it dries out. In hot, dry weather the soil can become very hard, then shrink and crack, which leads to subsidence. The British Geological Survey calls this shrink–swell behaviour the most damaging geohazard in Britain.
The shrinking is rarely even. Two houses on the same street can behave differently because of foundation depth, soil layers, nearby trees, paving or a leaking pipe. If one part of a house settles more than another, the walls crack. The Conversation's piece on post-drought subsidence covers this in more detail.
The insurance figures back this up. According to figures reported by ITV News:
Insurers received a record 13,000 domestic subsidence claims between July and September 2026, up from 8,000 a year earlier.
The average payout was a record £20,000 for the second quarter running.
The Association of British Insurers' (ABI) claims-notified data goes back to 1991.
Why windows are often where it shows
A window opening interrupts the wall, so when a house moves, the movement tends to show up around it first. That's our own on-site experience rather than something we've sourced.
Lintels can also fail without any ground movement. Older steel lintels rust, and rusting steel expands, which causes horizontal cracking and pushes the brickwork out of position. Where damp is present, corrosion is more likely and the expanding rust can crack the surrounding brickwork or render. That's why window lintel cracking is something we never recommend ignoring.
What to look out for (guidance from the ABI, as reported by ITV):
Cracks wider than 3mm (about the thickness of a £1 coin)
Diagonal cracks, especially if they're wider at the top than the bottom
Cracks that appear suddenly
Our tip is to photograph the crack next to a ruler and date it. Check your gutters and drains too. If it's getting worse, speak to your insurer and a qualified surveyor.
An honest word of warning: a good repair fixes the damage, but it doesn't fix the cause. If the ground is still moving, you need the cause diagnosed first, often with your insurer and an engineer involved. Then we repair.
[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 2: Close-up of a cracked lintel or stepped crack above a window, before repair]
What we've been up to across the Midlands
Since the summer we've been busy with homeowners, landlords and property managers across Leicester and the midlands. We've completed a range of different jobs, with the most common ones being:
Window lintel repairs and replacements. Retrofitted helical wire lintels have been installed and mortar repointed to show no signs of our repairs.
Crack stitch repairs. We cut out the bed joints either side of the crack, bed in reinforcing helical bar and grout it in. This ties the wall back together, and the approach follows the Brick Development Association's guide to brickwork repair.
Cracked brickwork and masonry repairs. This covers cutting out and replacing damaged bricks, and repointing with a mortar no stronger than the original. The same guide warns that where a strong mortar has been used over a weak one, the pointing can constrain the brick and lead to frost failures.
What winter will bring
You'd think the rain would be good news, and it is for the ground, but not for cracked walls.
October was 13% wetter than average, and 24 October was provisionally the UK's joint-sixth wettest day on record. The Met Office's outlook for November to January, as summarised by Prepared Britain, gives double the normal chance of a wet three months. Mild is more likely than usual and a cold period is less likely, though cold weather impacts remain possible, particularly later on. The Environment Agency's chief executive has said that the drought isn't over, and a few wet days cannot reverse months of hot, dry weather.
Here's what that means for your property:
Water getting in through cracks. The BDA guide says repairs must start with stopping water getting in. Water can enter through the joints, the bricks, or the gap between mortar and brick. It says this is generally not an issue for cavity walls, but can be significant for solid walls. Failed pointing and cracked render are classic routes for penetrating damp, which can show up as damp patches inside.
Freeze–thaw damage. Historic England explains that water expands as it freezes, causing spalling on wall faces where moisture is still trapped in the masonry. An open crack is a perfect way for that moisture to get in. Its guidance on repairing walls says saturated bricks are damaged by freeze/thaw action.
Rusting lintels. Once water reaches the steel, corrosion speeds up and the expanding rust pushes on the brickwork around it. Freezing then adds to the pressure.
The ground swelling back. As rain returns, clays swell and can push foundations upward. The recovery is neither complete nor instant, and different parts of a building may move at different rates. The Subsidence Forum's guide to structural movement notes that this cyclical movement means cracks can open and close with the seasons.
Our advice before the frosts
Check gutters and downpipes, so water isn't running down the wall.
Photograph any cracks and keep an eye on them.
Don't patch cracks with rigid filler. It often fails, and it can hide a bigger problem.
Get cracks looked at early. A small stitch now costs far less than a rebuild after a winter of freezing.
If you're after window lintel repair in Leicester, brickwork repairs in Leicester or structural repair in Leicester, we're here to help. Get in touch for a no-nonsense assessment: https://www.jtcstructural.co.uk/contact-us
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