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French drains are only as good as what they empty into. In London this is often clay or other unsuitable strata.
leggy_blonde-
As with anything, it depends, no?
If you have a concrete / other type of impermeable surface up to the side of your house, a French drain will mitigate any damp being held against the foot of the wall (particularly if it was previously above the DPC, or if there was render down to floor level that crossed the DPC), even if it just lets it down to the next impermeable layer (which is, hopefully, much lower than the DPC).
It also has the benefit of reducing splashing back, if you have it filled with gravel / shingle.
NotThamesWater
i have been given some advice from a builder about damp in the kitchen, end of terrace london victoran brick house.
we had a french drain thing put in gravel ditch around the back of the house when we 1st moved in. The new builder is saying the ditch is wrong and is just adding to damp problems as the kitchen has ben dug down ? ( its at ground level not a basement ) and we should have a plinth instead.
there is so much mumbo jumbo about helping a damp house im unsure what to believe anymore. has anyone had similar ??