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The astonishing sight of a 113-year-old church in the Arctic Circle being moved through a Swedish town has drawn international attention, but the threat of subsidence can’t be ignored, says experts from Ecclesiastical Insurance.
The specialist insurer has over 135 years' experience in protecting churches and heritage buildings, including restoring fire-damaged properties and helping flood-hit church buildings recover from the impact.
With the UK experiencing the driest start to the year in England since 1976 and many areas of the country experiencing drought, low reservoir levels, and hosepipe bans, the risk of subsidence has increased markedly.
Subsidence is where the ground beneath a building sinks, pulling the property’s foundations down with it and causing issues such as cracking on the inside and outside of a property.
It usually occurs when the ground loses moisture and shrinks due to prolonged dry spells. This is a particular issue in the UK, where large parts of the geological makeup of the country are clay, which is prone to shrinkage as moisture is removed.
Trees and shrubs can make the issue more severe as they remove moisture from the soil, as can leaks, sinkholes, and industrial processes such as mining, causing the ground beneath properties to fall away.
While it isn’t possible to prevent all cases of subsidence, some steps can be taken by property owners to protect themselves, including:
- Reviewing the proximity of surrounding trees
- Avoiding overplanting trees and hedges
- Tailoring the trees planted to the size of their garden and ensuring these are planted at a safe distance away from the property
Subsidence-related insurance claims totalled £153 million in the first half of 2025, as households across the UK felt the impact of an exceptionally warm and sunny spring, according to figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Where someone suspects they have a subsidence issue, it’s important they contact their insurer for advice and to arrange investigations to determine the cause and any suitable remedial action, including arranging for independent engineers and loss adjusters to investigate the damage.
As climate change continues to create more volatile weather patterns, Ecclesiastical’s claims team is prepared to support customers.
Working closely with its extensive network of suppliers, the specialist insurer has put preparations in place to deal with any potential surge in demand.
“At Ecclesiastical, we have over 135 years of experience in protecting churches and historic buildings, but I don’t believe we’ve ever had to pick an entire church up and move it!
“It’s an incredibly complex project that has been several years in the planning to ensure the wooden church, which weighs 672 tonnes, is moved safely along the 3-mile route. It has rightly caught the attention of the world, but it shows just how much of a risk subsidence poses to our heritage and our communities.
“Where this move has been triggered by over a century of large-scale industrial iron ore mining for over a century, subsidence can be caused by prolonged dry spells – such as the one we’re experiencing now. This is a particular issue in the UK, where large parts of the geological makeup of the country are clay, which is prone to shrinkage as moisture is removed.
“Going by our data from previous years, as a result, we expect the volume of subsidence claims to rise over time as weather conditions get warmer. If property owners suspect they have a subsidence issue, it’s important they contact their insurer for advice and to investigate the cracks to determine the cause and suitable action.”
The Kiruna church move was streamed live on the Swedish TV station, STV.