crack mystery

I moved into a 1930s semi 3 years ago and have been working my way around renovating the place.

Things are going well but I am noticing enlarging cracks in the bathroom ceiling where it meets the outer walls, and some hairline cracks in some of my replastered walls in other upstairs rooms.

what could be causing these cracks and is there anything I can do to get rid of them or stop them?

nothing came up on the survey that was done when I bought the house regarding movement/ subsidence etc. although the house is on the side of a hill which slopes away from the back of the house

what about wall ties? what are the signs when they need replacing and is it a costly job? (I dont think it would be a DIYer)

We have a similar problem and the property is in a similar placment to yours. We had some cracking on the outside walls, we had it looked and it was diagnosed as settlement cracking. Apparently a house can settle as much as 1/2 - 1 inch!

We have similar cracking round the edge of the ceilings. I suspect this is because the house stood empty for a while, we moved in and the heating was put on drying out the place. Causing the cracks to open in the recently decorated property. They could also be down to flexing of the first floor.

I've had a look outside at the back wall. there aren't any cracks as such but there appear to be gaps around the pointing in places as if the gaps between the bricks are larger than when the pointing was first put in.

If settlement is the cause, then hopefully things shouldn't get any worse as the house has had 70 years to settle.

perhaps the cracks in the bathroom appeared to get larger as they had been painted over by the old folks who lived here before me and with flexing of the house in wind etc they have opened up again

Check your drainage?

Would drainage be a problem as the property is on a sloping site?