Ok, here is a tinypic for the same picture as the one in imageshack
formatting link
house has recently been "done up" to sell, so yes they are new windows. They have "brick arch" lintels on the outside (probably large timber lintel on the inside) it looks like the brick arch is starting to give way.
So it would probably require new lintels to the outside replacing the brick arches. Not a big job eh?
The other house, I don't have an actual pic of the house so I'll use this pic of a house, In this house the windows are all old and the house has been rendered, and the area in green is where the render has been recently renewed, the red marks are where the cracks are. The crack (on the left) now runs along the line of new rendering.
So again this is indicative of failing lintels?