Buildings are sinking and cracking in one of Europe’s largest cities, tell me about this news in (https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/11/climate/london-subsidence-heat-clay-soil-sinking-insurance)

This report details how London is experiencing an escalating crisis of building subsidence, where homes and structures are cracking and shifting due to extreme weather and unique soil conditions. The Japan TimesThe Core Cause: London Clay and Heat WavesMuch of London is built on a thick layer of prehistoric clay (“London Clay”), which behaves like a dense sponge. When wet, it expands, but during periods of prolonged heat and severe drought, it severely dries out, shrinks, and contracts. Successive heat waves and record-breaking dry spells have drained moisture from the ground, causing the soil beneath buildings to sink unevenly (differential subsidence). Residential Surveying UK+ 2Most Vulnerable BuildingsThe risk is highest for older residential structurespredominantly Victorian and Edwardian era properties. Unlike modern high-rises with deep-drilled pilings that reach stable subterranean layers, older properties were typically built with shallow foundations resting directly on top of the clay. When the upper soil layer shrinks, these foundations drop, causing diagonal cracks across masonry, sticking doors and windows, and distorted frames. Highly affected zones include boroughs such as Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Barnet, and parts of Southeast London. Residential Surveying UK+ 2Insurance and Financial ImpactThe phenomenon has triggered a sharp surge in property damage claims:

• Record Claims: Insurers have reported record payouts, with total annual subsidence costs climbing into the hundreds of millions of pounds. Claims Journal
• High Repair Costs: Remediating severe subsidence via underpinning (reinforcing or deepening the foundation) can range from £20,000 to well over £100,000. Claims Journal
• Property Value Loss: Structural subsidence can devalue an affected home by 20% to 25% and leads to sharply rising home insurance premiums or outright policy exclusions. Claims Journal

Future Climate RiskGeological assessments from organizations like the British Geological Survey warn that as hotter summers become more frequent, millions of properties across southeast England could face high shrink-swell subsidence risks in the coming decades, making soil movement one of the UK’s costliest and fastest-growing climate adaptation challenges. CleanTechnica