Paying tax on a rental property

We are just back from a lovely week at Roda and the new clubhouse is as everyone says just lovely.  We had an incident on Sunday morning which has stayed with me since and I just wanted to make people aware of it.

I was playing golf on Sunday morning and our group had to delay driving off on the tee of the 17th hole for approximtately ten minutes as a young boy aged approximately 8-10 years old was walking along the cart path in the direction of the 18th tee. (I am not complaining about the delay and everyone in our group which included a Spanish couple of owners were horrified as the lack of parental supervision for this child). The child was following another young boy and it was clear that neither was aware of the potential dangers of where they were walking. It was not that long ago that a young man was killed when hit by a golf ball in Scotland and another young man was killed in Ireland on a golf course also again hit by a golf ball.

The children were going to Phase 3 and whilst I fully appreciate that the owners on Phase 3 find the golf course a useful shortcut to the clubhouse this could prove very dangerous and even fatal if one of them is hit by a golf ball. There are very clear notices on the course that the area is only for golfers and this is not for the amusement of golfers but to ensure that people are aware that a golf course is a dangerous area. Even as a seasoned golfer I would never want to be walking across a golf course thinking that I would know where a ball might be coming from as there are many mishits on all golf courses.  

Please please ensure that you let any renters know that the golf course is a very dangerous and potentially lethal place to be as we do not want a serious accident on Roda and it is essential that the message is out there that it is a very dangerous place to walk especially if you don´t know what to expect. All of our group were rightly very upset by the incident and I hope that people can get the message out there. I would rather walk a mile or two than endanger life and limb on a golf course.

I totally agree, the last thing you want to see is people walking along the side of the fairway.  Far too many duck hooks and slices going on to be deemed safe. 

However I own on Phase 3 and will certainly be using the cart path to the club house in the evening once it is too dark to play.

I agree with Celtic as I have seen people being hit on an American golf resort on several occasions through and over a net so no guarantees with golfers and golf balls. It is not even that the ball is mishit but where there are cart paths and trees a ball can bounce or ricochet anywhere and in any direction so it is not possible to determine where you would be safe other than off the course or behind the golfer hitting the ball.

If I were the developer I would be steering well clear of suggesting that anyone could use the golf course for access during daylight hours as even with a net they would be open to potential injury. I would imagine that De Vere who run the golf course would insist that no one other than golfers should be on the course. As most people have pointed out the only safe solution is a walk through the other phases or alternatively to drive round to the club house.

Anyone renting on Phase 3 should be very careful to emphasise the dangers of being on the golf course to renters as all golf courses have a disclaimer for injury sustained on the course, whether you are a golfer or not, and this is why we golfers all pay 3euro insurance each time we play and members of the Spanish Federation pay the 60 euro per annum to cover us for any potential liability. If a non golfer is hit who should not be on the golf course in the first place I would imagine that the problem will come back to the renter. It will certainly not be with the developer or the company running the course who will be answerable or liable as Spanish law is very different from UK law where the public can sue for just about anything.