Without greater details on the house, itself;
1a. There may well be physical indications on/in the fabric of the house.
1b. There ought to be details of remedial works, etc. in your deed-package, the LA may hold details of any such works.
2. The Environment Agency may well hold any such records.
ha! when we moved into our house and got insurance i said "no" to the above. About 3 years later our eighbour was telling us about the time they had to move out for 6 months while the subsidence was sorted!
berti, i rang them straight away to tell them that next door had had subsidence a few years ago (plus the whole row of houses to the left of ours) and they just said "ok, thanks"