[farnorth]

Hello, I am desperately seeking some advice.

I am becoming very worried about a long-standing crack in the gable wall of my house. I have the end house in a terrace row - the brickwork at the gable end is cracked from about three feet from the ground all the way up to the roof, almost in a vertical line. It is only a small crack - not half a centimetre - but it is visible up close. In the bedroom adjacent to this wall you can often hear a noise which sounds like a brick cracking.

The inner layer of this wall is breezeblock - I have no idea what condition they are in further down, but inspecting them in the loft where they are visible, the breezeblocks appear to be sound.

I have searched around on the internet and read all sorts of stories about subsidence issues and very expensive shoring up repairs. I doubt I could afford that unless it is covered by insurance. I should also mention that there is a large tree near this wall, planted by the council when the house was built - is it possible the roots of this tree might be affecting the gable?

Should I be worried that the side of the house will collapse at some point? This house is only 25 years old and was sold to us as sound and passed by the surveyor/valuation expert.

Thanks in advance for any input.