The Brew Cabin

I have a 1930’s house built on clay soil in Northamptonshire. The dry summer has caused minor subsidence at the front of the house and I am considering replacing paved/concreted areas (which drain into a sewer) with gravel. Would this allow better water penetration or would it make matters worse by allowing evaporation of underground water?

If there is any chance of your house being affected you are better paying the £1,000 excess on your insurance and getting the whole lot done. Many insurance policies only allow claims on ancillaries if the building itself is affected. Also any decent surveyor (not that there are many of them about) will notice the signs of subsidence, or subsidence repair) and the house will be unsellable until all the necessary measures have been taken.

Thanks danensis
I am already on the insurance route and the surveyor has been round. We are going to be into tree removal (I told my wife they were too big) and then just a few minor crack repairs and redecoration to the property.
The surveyor did not seem to have any positive views on paving v gravel and I wondered if anybody had an opinion.

In these water-conscious times, sending surface water into the groundwater regime rather than into the local drainage system is the preferred option, and this can be achieved by using a non-bound surface, such as your gravel, or, if you do want a paved surface, then relying on a soakaway with a leach field would have the same result.

Now, your property has had 70 years or so of standing on a drained plot. If you suddenly inundate it with groundwater, the clay may swell leading to heave, which is just the reverse of subsidence, but just as much a nightmare.

Personally, I'd not worry too much about it all. It's not just a matter of what you do on your plot, but what your neighbours do with their surface water, and what the local area is like in terms of the ratio of hard paving to open land, whether there are any open ditches or the like, groundwater abstraction and the morphology of the local water table. If you opt for gravel, then allowing it to soak through could result in a winter quagmire and a summer hardpan, but it's impossible to say without being familiar with the site.