Subsidence risk by area
Subsidence is one of the ground risks that can affect a home's value, insurability and structure. These pages screen three area-level drivers — BGS clay shrink-swell, coalfield status and recorded landslides — for high-interest outcodes across Great Britain, so you can understand the neighbourhood before you look at a specific property.
50 areas with a genuine ground signal · area-level BGS screening on ~50 m to hex-scale grids, never a single-property rating.
These bands describe the ground around an area on BGS national-overview grids — they are never a property-specific rating and carry no distance-to-mine-shaft claim. Whether a specific home is at risk depends on its plot, foundations, nearby trees and drainage, which only a survey can assess.
Areas with a subsidence ground signal
Bolton
Kingston & Coombe
Clifton, Bristol
Kilburn & West Hampstead, London
Greenwich
Huddersfield
Jesmond, Newcastle
Camden, London
Reading
Romford
Peckham, London
Forest Hill, London
Enfield
Lambeth
Bromley
Bath
Bath (south & west)
Bournemouth
Cambridge
Ely
Chelmsford
Colchester
Croydon
Durham
Whitechapel & Shoreditch, London
Canary Wharf, London
Royal Docks, London
Walthamstow, London
Harrow
Ilford
Kingston upon Thames
East Molesey & Hampton Court
Hunslet, Leeds
Finsbury Park, London
Newcastle upon Tyne
Oxford
Southwark, London
Windsor
Westcliff & Southend
Stoke-on-Trent
Battersea, London
Wandsworth, London
Westminster, London
Chelsea, London
Torquay
Twickenham
Southall
Notting Hill, London
Paddington & Bayswater, London
Chiswick, London
Check a specific address
Ground stability is assessed at the property, not the outcode. The £24.99 Complete report runs the clay, coal and landslide screen against one exact address and pairs it with the flood, radon and other checks — the full ground-and-risk picture before you offer.
Frequently asked questions
What causes subsidence?
The three area-level drivers screened here are clay shrink-swell (clay soils shrinking in dry summers and swelling when wet — the commonest UK cause, worsening with climate change), past coal or other mining (ground disturbance from historic workings), and recorded landslides (slope instability). Trees, leaking drains and made ground are property-level factors only a survey assesses.
Is this a property-specific subsidence check?
No. These are AREA-LEVEL indicators from the British Geological Survey and Mining Remediation Authority, generalised for national overview on roughly 50-metre to hex-scale grids. They describe the ground around an outcode, never a single home, and carry no distance-to-mine-shaft claim. Whether a specific property is affected depends on its plot, foundations, trees and drainage.
Does a subsidence flag stop me getting a mortgage or insurance?
Not automatically. Area-level ground risk can raise buildings-insurance premiums or prompt a lender to ask for a survey, especially where a property has a movement history. A survey-confirmed subsidence claim is far more material than an area screening. Always get a buildings-insurance quote on the specific address before you commit.
Which areas are covered?
Great Britain — England, Wales and Scotland — using BGS and Mining Remediation Authority data. Northern Ireland is served by the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. The areas below are outcodes with a genuine, differentiated ground signal; any GB outcode can be checked, but only those with a real signal are listed and indexed.
Sources
- GeoClimate UKCP18 shrink-swell — British Geological Survey
- Coal Development Risk Areas — Mining Remediation Authority
- National Landslide Database — British Geological Survey