Whilst we're certainly an outdoors people, swimming pools aren't common on the estates of London and Birmingham; despite every outdoor pool from Spain to Sardinia being overtaken by Brits in their socks and sandals. Swimming isn't only a pastime of leisure; it offers significant health benefits for all ages.
There are many gems around Britain where you can enjoy an open-air swim in clean water with changing facilities and still be in the countryside.
In British English, a lido (/ˈliːdoʊ/ LEE-doh, /ˈlaɪdoʊ/ LY-doh) is a public outdoor swimming pool and surrounding facilities, or part of a beach where people can swim, lie in the sun, or participate in water sports.
It is estimated that there are nearly 250,000 UK homes that have a private swimming pool and approximately 2,500 are being installed every year.
There are 1,997 public pools across 1,187 sites in England, totalling 503,233 square metres of pool space, the data shows.
Summary of Key Facts
The number of swimming pool sites in the UK is 3,170.
If a person is searching for a residential property with a pool then it can add value. This is because the buyer does not have to spend their money to install a new pool. It makes things easier for the seller to sell it for the price they want.
2. Swimming pools. It might sound surprising but a swimming pool can knock-up to £20,000 off your home. Given how poor the British weather can be, potential buyers are put-off by having one at all.
Overall some 17% of high end estate agents have seen an increase in demand for swimming pools that can add up to 15% to a property's sale price, according to the study from Direct Line's Select Premier Insurance.
A lido is an outdoor swimming pool near a beach or even in a city where people can swim and relax. Facilities vary but lidos generally offer basic changing rooms and showers.
Bathing Pool Beginnings
Early American municipal pools in the mid-1800s were actually a Victorian-era attempt to ingrain cleanliness and decorum to the urban poor. They were called “bathing pools” or “plunge baths” rather than swimming pools.
Lido Comes From an Italian Resort
English speaking social climbers generalized the town's name and started using it for any fashionably Lido-esque beach.
The pool of champions: London Aquatics Centre
Head to the Olympic Park for a swim in the pool (or pools) of champions – the London Aquatics Centre has three to choose from, one of which is often split in two by state-of-the-art technology.
blue abyss, the world's biggest and deepest indoor pool to be built in the UK.
Welcome To Saltdean Lido
Saltdean Lido is one of the finest remaining examples of modernist lidos in the UK. It has been saved by local residents who have set up the CIC and successfully secured a 60-year lease from Brighton & Hove City Council (the freeholders) to operate the lido site.
Noisy neighbours, pet smells, pebble dash, being near a pub and the notorious Japanese knotweed are some of the most undesirable features of a house that would convince homeowners to ask for a discount or put them off a purchase altogether.
A pool can increase not only your social worth but also the value of your home. However, the increase is probably not as much as you think. According to HouseLogic, there's no real guarantee that you'll make your money back. In fact, adding a swimming pool may only increase your home's value by 7%.
How much value does a pool add to a home? The experts are a split on how much a pool can contribute to a home's value. One HouseLogic study suggests an increase of 7 percent, at most, under ideal conditions, while HGTV reports that the average inground pool can up your property's value by 5 to 8 percent.
Swimming pools
Planning permission is not usually required to install an outdoor domestic swimming pool as a pool is often considered as a garden project.
It won't be easy since a swimming pool can actually make your home harder to sell. Many buyers consider it a liability rather than a luxury. Under the right circumstances, however, a pool could boost your home's value by as much as 7%, Houselogic estimates.
"Indoor pools, although expensive, can add appreciably to the value of a property" says Mr Greenwood, "because they can be used all the year round. But they must be well designed - certainly if ventilation is poor you will suffer from condensation and quite often an unpleasant smell."
Today there are 196 public swimming pools in London. 2 These are pools operated by the London Boroughs for general use and comprise 37 per cent of the total number of swimming pools in the capital (530). Of the other pools, many (205 in total) are commercially operated.
Olympic size pools measure: 50 metres long, 25 metres wide, and a minimum of 2 metres deep. 660,430 gallons of water.
Jesus Green Lido is the longest outdoor pool in the UK - here's the reason why.