Rendering for a newbie - Lime vs Silicone?

We've been in our house a few years, and the 10-15 year old rendering has gradually become more and more sad. It's a Georgian house, and the well-rated local renderer we got out to quote said that the cracks had been caused by the existing render not having lime in it. This sounded plausible to a newbie like me. He then quoted an eyewatering figure to remove the old render and put a lime-based replacement on. With it being an old house, part of me wanted to do it properly and so was prepared to suck up the cost. I was chatting to a neighbour who has just had their house done, and they said they used something called K-Rend for a very reasonable figure. A quick Google shows that this is a modern, silicone-based alternative. To my untrained eye it looked great, but I know absolutely nothing of its durability etc. Has anyone gone through the same process?

I’d say your renderer is correct. Old houses (e.g. ones built before cavity walls were the norm) need breathable materials or else you trap the inevitable moisture that comes up from the ground behind the render and then it spalls off with frosts etc.

Same goes for repointing etc, a lime mortar is a better solution than modern cement.

Thanks all. You've confirmed much of what I already suspected. Going to get a couple more lime quotes and go from there.