From what I remember, this stupidity of 1m deep footings came about from insurance companies after 1976. A small number of houses moved, MOST didn't, but it didn't stop the "ignorant ones" cutting of their heads and doing chicken impressions. I live on sand. It doesn't move, lots of houses around were built without any foundations, and they haven't moved for over a hundred years.
Houses can be several hundred years old, they weren't built with metres of foundations either, they were built using timber frames that could flex without collapsing.
If people stopped using CEMENT they probably wouldn't get cracks. Houses with lime mortar don't suffer much. Our house is built in two bits. One is 120 years old, lime mortar, a couple of cracks in the plaster. Foundations about 12 inches deep. The other bit is 20 years old, cement mortar (it would be better, so the brickie said) foundations 3 feet deep and cracks all over the place.