Pool renting

mon19

Hello,

About to buy a house in the South of England that has an indoor pool built by existing owners and the first idea is to convert the space into a big living room.

Cost of running the pool is stupidly high (average of 700/month depending on weather and season) and the current owners compensate that by renting it out to a local swimming instructor that teaches swimming to kids/toddlers/mums etc for a small hourly fee that could cover 50% of the running costs.

I have the following questions:

1) If I maintained the same arrangement, would the money paid by the swimming instructor need to be declared for tax purposes?

2) The swimming instructor apparently has liability insurance but if the pool belongs to us, wouldn't we need to have liability insurance?

3) Would the fact that the swimming instructor is paying a fee mean that we are running a business?

Part of me wants to run a mile but maybe under the right legal cover (insurances, tax transparency etc) this could be a win/win

Thank you

silvercar

1) yes, but all the expenses of operating the pool for the rental time could be an allowable expense.

2)
don't know.

3) yes, it wouldn't qualify under the rent a room scheme as it wouldn't be the instructors home. You have £1000 allowance for property rented out but using it would mean that you couldn't claim the expenses, so in this case you would be better off not claiming the allowance

propertyrental

If you don't want a house with a pool, don't buy a house with a pool....

user1977

Yes to all of the above, I would say (and in relation to insurance, you'll want that anyway - what if a non-paying guest has an accident in the pool and sues you? Normal house insurance provides cover though you should check whether they need to be told about pools.)

Have you asked the vendor how they deal with all these practicalities?

Murphybear

Can I come and use it please 

mon19

user1977 said:

Yes to all of the above, I would say (and in relation to insurance, you'll want that anyway - what if a non-paying guest has an accident in the pool and sues you? Normal house insurance provides cover though you should check whether they need to be told about pools.)

Have you asked the vendor how they deal with all these practicalities?

Very good point and Thank you. 
I did ask the current owners but they had a very lax approach which I wouldn't not be comfortable with hence wanting to do it the right way.

MultiFuelBurner

I suspect you need the following

1) perform daily and record use of chemicals and cleanliness of pool
2) insect the pool area regularly for hazards
3) accident boom
4) get a quote for liability insurance specific to hiring out the pool

And more.............

Personally I wouldn't do it 

Section62

mon19 said:

2) The swimming instructor apparently has liability insurance but if the pool belongs to us, wouldn't we need to have liability insurance?

Yes.

Also, when you get a quote for home insurance you would have to answer "yes" to the question about whether any part of the property is used for business purposes - which will almost certainly significantly increase the cost of your home insurance, and probably limit you to a handful of specialist insurers.

For something as high risk as a swimming pool it wouldn't surprise me if all domestic insurers refused you cover if you allowed the pool to be used on a business basis.

Stubod

..do yourself a big favour, avoid all the potential hazards listed above and go with your idea to convert it into a living space....

Schwarzwald

The rental idea makes only sense imo if it were a profitable operation covering all runnig costs and maybe generating some profit. But the legal and reputational complications that come with it …. Not sure its worth it, especially as it involves kids. So many things can go wrong ….

would convert it or as other said, not buy it in the first place

lincroft1710

As well as all the disadvantages mentioned above, would you really want strangers in//on your property introduced by a third party.


I agree with the majority opinion, forget or convert