Pool in West London - is that allowed ?

[sotiredtoday]

Quick question : my neighbours want to build a pool in their garden. No one around here has a pool, our gardens are quite small, would this be allowed ? We are in Hounslow Council ... Any views ?

If it's an open air pool your neighbours don't need planning permission

I can’t see what the problem would be? I’m in outer London and quite a few people have pools around here.

An outside pool? In the UK? Why??

I don’t know why you would want one in the U.K.

But no reason why they couldn’t, don’t see the problem with it.

You can have nice heated pool with a jacuzzi on the side. Can be used most of the year. Also, some people do open water swimming so wouldn’t even mind cold water in winter (like my DH).

It's not an open air pool but a 'traditional' pool build digging a big hole in the garden with a filtration system.

I am sure lots of people have them in London but I am in Chiswick in an area where the plots of land are very good size for a garden but not for a pool. No one has a pool in my neighborhood, hence my questions

Someone told me once never to move next to a house with a pool because of the noise! Saying that, I expect permission would be given. Why don’t you ask the planning department for their views?

I had a friend in Victorian terrace in Fulham who had a pool. V small garden - not much space left.

Thanks ! I guess it is possible ...
yes, the garden will be super small afterwards !

If it falls under permitted development and they don't mind losing a significant proportion of their garden (and knocking the resale value of their property) then they are allowed, AFAIK.

I saw a house near mine in Clapham that had one. Virtually no garden left - stumble as you're going out of the patio doors and you'd end up very wet... I'd stay as friendly as you can with these neighbours, it will be good to know them on hot days .

Thanks :) They are lovely and we are very friendly but I have to admit this is an odd proposal and we are a wee bit concerned about the noise

We live next door to pool owners with a small garden, and it's the smell as much as the noise that bothers me. Chlorine wafting over my garden is not appealing.

There's a two-bed council house around the corner from us (sw London) with a pool in the small garden. I'm quite envious tbh!

Btw, I don't understand this bit - in what way is the big hole version of a pool not open air? Doesn't open air just mean not enclosed?

"It's not an open air pool but a 'traditional' pool build digging a big hole in the garden with a filtration system."

From the street you'd never know that a few houses in our street and surrounding have pools in the garden. Most of them have been there years and years, and you only find out when the house goes on the market and you have a nosey at the details! Most of them have fairly large, or long and skinny plots though, and the pool takes up a relatively small area.