Subsidence, settlement and heave
Render is cracked at one window corner and the masonry behind was not opened up. Has the survey diagnosed a failed lintel?
No. A crack in the render at one window corner, where the masonry behind was not opened up, is not a diagnosis of a failed lintel. The survey has recorded a crack in the coating at that corner. It has not seen the lintel, the bearings or the brick behind the render, and it has not decided that the lintel has failed. Window corners collect cracks for several reasons, including shrinkage of the coating. One crack in render is not, by itself, a failed support over the opening.
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?
Render cracks where the coating is thin, at stops, and at the corners of openings, because those points move a little or were weaker when the render went on. A failed lintel is a claim about the member over the window: sag, crushed bearings, or brick dropping above the opening. None of that was opened up. The surveyor saw the outside of the coating. Writing 'failed lintel' over an unopened corner invents a structural conclusion the inspection did not reach.
Ask which words in the report belong to the render crack, and whether the lintel was even visible. If you need the masonry seen, that is a separate opening-up, agreed with the seller, not a reread of this visit. Tell the solicitor and any lender that a failed lintel has not been diagnosed. An insurer's movement question is not answered by a coating crack at one corner the survey could not follow into the wall.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the crack only in the render at that one window corner?
- Was the masonry behind the crack opened, or left unseen?
- Did you diagnose a failed lintel, or stop at the coating?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the finding as a render crack at one window corner.
- Do not read it as a diagnosed failed lintel.
- If the brick must be seen, arrange a separate opening-up.
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 crack is wider at the top of the window, is the lintel condemned?
No. A wider point in the render still sits in the coating until the masonry is opened. The survey has not diagnosed a failed lintel from that shape, and the member over the window was not seen. The inspection did not stretch that window-corner crack into any wider claim at all.
Does a straight head inside the room prove the lintel is sound?
No. A straight plaster head is not a view of the lintel. The masonry behind the render was not opened, so neither failure nor soundness of that lintel has been shown. Keep that window-corner crack inside the facts the surveyor actually recorded on the day.