Subsidence, settlement and heave
A coal mining search is the only paper you have. What crack or tilt in the walls has that search not recorded?
The coal mining search has recorded no crack and no tilt in the walls, because it has not looked at the walls at all. It is a paper search, and it is the only paper you have. A Coal Authority search is a separate product from a home survey. It reports mining information for the area. It does not walk the house, measure a lean or photograph a crack. No building movement has been recorded because nobody has yet inspected the structure.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Mining information and building damage are different questions with different documents. The search can speak about workings, shafts or further referrals in the ground it covers. It cannot say this house has moved, and it cannot say this house has not moved. Without a survey, the walls are simply uninspected. Reading the search as a structural clearance mistakes a mining paper for a look at the brickwork. The two products do not stand in for each other.
Commission a home survey if you want cracks, tilt and condition recorded, and keep the coal search as the mining paper it is. Tell the solicitor you have a search and no inspection of the walls yet. Do not tell a lender the structure was looked at. If the search tells you to take another step, follow that as its own instruction. Neither step is done by assuming the walls are straight.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Has the coal search recorded any crack or tilt in these walls?
- Is that search a separate product from a home survey?
- Are the walls still uninspected for movement?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the coal search as mining information only.
- Commission a home survey if you need cracks and tilt recorded.
- Do not tell a lender the walls were inspected.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the search says no workings, are the walls straight?
Not shown. A clear mining result, if that is what the paper says, is about the mining records, not about this house's brickwork. No crack and no tilt have been recorded because no survey has looked. Walls can crack for reasons that are not mining, and they can be straight in a mining area. The search has not decided which.
Does the search replace the need to look at a leaning chimney?
No. A leaning chimney would be something a survey sees. The coal search has not recorded it, because a search does not look at the chimney. If you are worried about lean or cracking, you still need an inspection of the building. The mining paper remains a separate product.