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?

Why not? You can afford it, you have a lot of space. Someone I know has an outdoor pool, but in London suburbs so bit warmer here. No idea about upkeep costs, but certainly looked like they enjoyed it over the years.

I haven’t read the full thread but we had a pool and the kids really enjoyed it when they were young. It had its own gas boiler and wasn’t too expensive to run although maintaining the patio area round it was a bit of a pain. But it was definitely fun ! I could dive into it but it was quite small for doing lengths.

Over time it turned into a bit of a swamp so we had it filled in, it cost £10k to fill in and returf which I thought wasn’t too bad. So in the worst case, you could just fill it in if you were ever to sell up or didn’t like it !!

Everything I read says a pool is a bad investment but given the house is high end, I'm not sure.

how is anyone's opinion going to make any difference to the fact you're set on an outdoor pool. It is a poor investment, for very low return because of the climate and all the maintenance. You'll soon wish you'd taken notice of what you've read.

So fine, crack on.

There was a house for sale near me a few years ago and it took forever to sell because of the pool and the owners ended up dropping the price over similar local properties.
We almost bought a house with a pool once and we've always said we're relieved we didn't because the cost of keeping it heated and clean far out weigh the usage. Better to join a lovely local health club with a pool.

Well done, OP. I love my pool. It's one of the nicest things about my house. It's a convivial space and you never regret a swim.

Irrelevant if you are not in the uk