Views on whether outdoor pool is a bad idea

[user704750]

We are very lucky to live in beautiful place. We won't be moving for at least 15 years (been here for 20).

I am toying with the idea of an outdoor pool. I think it would cost about £150k

I'm not a massive swimmer. DH swims regularly (at the gym). I hate travelling though and am very much a home person. We tend to stay at home during the summer and go away in the autumn and at Easter.

House is worth c£2.5m. Large 5 bed with 14 acres, separate guest cottage. High standard of decor. Based in the Midlands rather than the South coast so a bit cooler.

DC are at university but both are likely to live back at home for post grad study.

Everything I read says a pool is a bad investment but given the house is high end, I'm not sure. A reasonable number of houses in this price bracket in this area seem to have pools (although there aren't that many of them). Can't afford an indoor one which would add tens of thousands to the cost.

We have solar panels which generate excess power in the summer.

Would a pool devalue a higher end home in your opinion? Would it put you off buying the house?

I mean, the main thing is whether you want it or not isn't it. You don't sound that enthusiastic.

I would start with an outside heated pool in a walled garden area. with the potential to convert to an inside pool at a later date by roofing the walled garden/courtyard.

There is such aot of maintainance with them. , the heating alone is generally inadequate for a British climate and pumps are noisy.

I'm surprised that with your acreage you haven't already got one. I would totally expect a pool - and tennis court in a garden of your size.

As a pp said, get one with a fitted automatic safety cover (the one that will hold the weight of a car). This way you don't have to winterize the pool (ie put a winter cover on and effectively shut it down). Then those hardy folk who like cold water swimming can use it all year round. Better still, if you have a sauna building next to it you can heat up and then cool down! The infared saunas have a really soothing heat.

It's such a lovely thing to have, the maintenance is minimal once up and running, the chemicals are so much softer than in a municipal pool (by that I mean, no chlorine smell because no one is weeing in it). And it's a lovely thing to share with friends and family.

If you can easily afford it, it is a good idea. Get a decent size and don't put steps all the way along one end because it's really annoying if you are swimming lengths to bash into them. I would have an over ladder step in the deep end so people can jump in freely and one set of corner steps in the shallow end so little ones can sit on them and splash about. Fence it in, obviously - you have the room - and put a changing room building next to it (you could put a little sauna in there also).

Deffo get the pool! You clearly want the pool... and it will be fun and the kids will visit and the grandkids and the world will literally be on fire by then so you can smug it up on your lilo.

Get. the. pool.

Why would they not drown in the lake or the massive pond? Genuine question...

We had a pool in our old house (SW London). Granted it didn’t get used from October to May but it was an absolutely amazing thing to have. Both kids learned to swim in it, we had tons of pool parties, and falling into a pool after a sweaty commute was heaven. If you have the money I’d go for it.
i know everyone likes to moan about the uk climate but I think they forget how hot it can get. We used our pool all through lockdown from March - Sept, when the kids were tiny we holidayed at home.
Every summer for the last how ever many years, we’ve had a really hot spell. And with a heated pool it doesn’t have to be that hot to enjoy a swim.

they are drawn to the warmth, stillness, reflection as well as the salt byproducts.
they are also incredibly energy efficient insects and will go to the closest constant source and will communicate to the other water fetching bees the location.
because of pool edges vs edge of a lake or puddle (gradual entry some very shallow spots) they are more prone to drowning in pools.

Fortunately the bees are by the pond on the other side of the house but we would get an automatic cover anyway.

I put one in my last property. It cost £30k (this was about 12 years ago). It was great! I had an air source heat pump which costs £100s to run, not £1000s. It was well used and I used it in all weathers - the heat pump I got was in use from April 1 to October (it had to have a minimum level of ambient temperature to work). It was no hassle to take care of - I only had the pool guy in to put it to bed for winter and open it up in Spring, the rest of the time I took care of it, which required a few tablets, a weekly vacuum, filter cleaned and that’s it. You can get a retractable enclosure or get a stronger heat system to run year round. There is something wonderful about a January swim with the steam rising - my old gym has a year round outdoor pool.
I sold that property, much less valuable than yours at circa £600k. I don’t think the pool added any value, but I also don’t think it devalued it either.
So it’s a personal choice. If you’ll use it and aren’t looking for it to add value, then go for it.

It will take a lot of effort and expense to maintain it.

Someone down my road bought a house with one, but had it filled in

£150k for out door pool is outrageous - unless it's going to be an Olympic pool - i.e. huge. My daughter (south of France) has just made a perfectly adequate pool that cost about £15,000 - £20.000 all in - fully tiled, pump etc. Are you using a builder or a pool supplier ? Also - remember not everyone even want a pool - and they are expensive to maintain. You may not get your money back on it and may deter buyers.

A natural swimming pond would be wonderful, you could extend the existing pond even. I struggle to see how thats more expensive than a new build pool.
I wouldn't buy a house with an outdoor pool, they are always cold even with the heating bills. And full of insects.

£30k of it is stone and landscaping costs for the patio area around it.

Most of our friends with pools hardly ever use them and that was includes the indoor ones in the £3-4 million bracket.
I wouldn’t have one in the UK.

OK stone will make it expensive. Also if the land is very rocky that has to be dug will add to cost of course..

If you live there for another 15 years it will be £10k per year, excluding running costs. Is that worth it to you? How much more would it be to put up a building around it to make it more usable for the whole year? I wouldn't be thinking too much about resale, as you don't intend to move.forna long time, so it's more about current lifestyle.

I had a pool in my old house.

i’m a cold water swimmer but there were a number of negatives:

the pump made quite a lot of noise. Not generally an issue but on very hot days when you have all the windows open you could really hear it.

you do need to rescue small animals that have fallen in. Leaf clearance is also a pain.

if you are happy to pay someone to come each week and do the chemicals and clean it then that’s good because otherwise it’s too easy to just leave it three weeks and suddenly it’s neon green.

kids loved it. They got cold fast though so wetsuits helped. We also had a pool shed for inflatables etc.

from my perspective 12x5 just not big enough. You’re doing a turn almost as soon as you have started swimming. I now live in a house without a pool and while I do regret that in summer the river is not far and it’s not 12m long.

@Octavia64 I can only really hear my pool pump when its on its last legs.
It shouldn't be a noticeable noise if you have a pump house.

If i could afford it, I would get an indoor one. Also if you get a pool, get a pool! Dont get a tiny thing get a good 20m pool if outside.

12x5m isn't big enough to swim in properly, you need a current to swim against.
I'd have a 25 lap pool long one edge of the garden and wouldn't let anyone else in it!😍

I like the idea of a big patio around the edge with sun loungers which matches the rest of the garden.

12 x 5 is a really nice size for a pool, had lots of holiday houses with that size. Less so if it’s for fitness.
It sounds like you have the space and the yearning for it so why not. It doesn’t appeal to me but then I like to be elsewhere as often as I can. I’m central so not realistic for me but a padel court would be much more fun. Or both!

12m is too small for proper swimming.

I used to live in a village where several houses had them, including some of my friends. Just lovely. They were the kind of people who were fastidious about maintaining a lovely garden and doing a lot of household maintenance and they were also generous about letting people from the wider community use it.

One of those little pools with a current- I would love one of these. A pool outside- absolutely not. Nothing appeals about it.