Structural Report- who pays?

gentlecleanser

We are looking to purchase an older property ( Victorian). On viewing the property there are some cracks around the single story bay window.
We have been passed paperwork from the EA, showing that in 2006, the building insurance company found no signs of subsidence and that the cracks were likely caused by UPVC windows being installed. They also passed us paperwork for a quote and receipt of work to show that the bay window has been 'reinforced with a Helibeam System to distribute the structural load and offer substantial resistance to further cracking'

from my photos at viewing, I can see there is definitely one large crack around the bay window internally that is not marked on the quote for work from 2006. The guarantee for the work expired on 2016. 

Is it reasonable to ask the vendor to pay for a structural Engineer report so that we can be assured that subsidence is not happening ( thus meaning we may need to pay for underpinning)? 
Or is it practice, that we as buyers should be organising and paying for this report? I have had some quote in locally and is will cost about £500, which we are not against paying but I do not want to pay for it for them to share the findings with other potential buyers. 

We have tried to offer a lower price for the property to buy as is but the vendors rejected it, so now I am concerned if we went back with a higher offer and then still need to get this work done. 

youth_leader

In England it is usual practice for the buyer to pay for surveys,  structural reports, electrical tests etc.  You then own the report and have a contract with the structural surveyor, it will not be shared with anyone.  

My EA persuaded me to pay for my buyer's damp/timber report as he was becoming increasingly flaky,  and I think they thought he'd withdraw from the sale.  I did agree and did have the full report forwarded to him, but his lender threw it out as inappropriate for a heritage building.

gentlecleanser

Thank you, very useful to know. I will offer to pay for the report then. 

Sorry you had a bad experience. 

[Deleted User]

You could always ask them if they would be willing to offer a discount if the report says work needs doing. That way you know you are not just wasting your money, if a discount is what you are looking for.

lookstraightahead

My previous vendors had a structural report which they shared with us and our surveyor. They didn't have to but it almost certainly helped us make the decision to buy this old house.

SensibleSarah

I'm planning on getting a structural survey done on my home before I market it - mainly so that I can price it accordingly (I know there are some issues but want to understand specifics and get some quotes/ballpark figures for the work) and be up-front with potential buyers. I want to be confident in the price I set that already takes the issues into account. But that is not the way things are normally done and I wouldn't expect the vendor of any house I want to buy to do the same. 

youth_leader

I commissioned a survey on my home, I had hoped to stay in my property but unfortunately I couldn't finance the works and did have to sell. 

I thought it would help my EA when viewers questioned them, and gave them a copy.  I was very unhappy to eventually out find they had been copying the whole report for each viewer.