There are days left for the first dip of the year and neighborhood communities are already preparing to start the pool season, an element that increases, even more, the price of homes. Good news for the owners of the pack and bad for those who want to buy an apartment with this extra, since from the pandemic the pool is one of the most coveted elements for the demand. Its surcharity is very variable and cannot be generalized. «The impact on the value, in positive or negative, of having or not this equipment can reach, depending on the location, up to 15% in the case of multifamily housing (community pool) and up to 18% in the case of single -family (individual pool),» says César Escobar, Visa Director of Tunsa by Accumin. In the offices of the Alpha Real Estate Agency, they detected that the price of houses with a pool of its portfolio rose 10% in the first four months of 2024, more than double the general increase in housing in Spain (4.3%) in that same period. However, the appraisers affirm that the greater or lesser increase in the floor will depend on the location and the type of installation. «A pool for 40 neighbors is not the same as another for 400 and poorly oriented,» says Pedro Soria, Minister of Strategy and Business Development of Grupo Tecnitasa. In addition, its impact on the price is never quantified in isolation, but in relation to other characteristics of the property. And, in any case, it is not the element that has more weight when setting the value of a house. «The location, surface and distribution and facilities and finishes weigh more,» says Soria. Thus, the increase can range from 3% of Madrid, where most of the new promotions have common areas that include pool, up to 59% of Barcelona, where there is a geographical limitation to create new projects, according to a study prepared by idealist last year. Most promotions in new urban developments include pool. «In these environments it is not conceived that it is built without offering common areas, gardens and pool, unlike central areas where it can pass to the background,» says Escobar. But there are thousands of farms throughout Spain that lack it. Only one in four floors for sale has this installation, according to the report of the real estate portal. In many cases, consider building a pool in an existing block or urbanization is technically and materially impossible, but in others it is feasible and, in fact, it is one of the issues that the neighbors are raised at some point. The dip imports, but also the revaluation of the floor. «It is estimated that the value of real estate could increase around 20%,» says Fernando Céspedes, Collegiate Farm Administrator of Communal, who works in Malaga. This administrator states that, in recent years, coinciding with the elongation of summer seasons, there is a greater interest in installing pools in communities where there are no. However, «there are two conditions that are an obstacle: to have sufficient space and face the cost of the installation,» says Céspedes. For this, it is not easy for the proposals to end up thriving. «The experience is that they do not usually get ahead in most cases due to their high cost,» says Peio Mendia, president of the College of Administrators of Finces of Navarra and treasurer of the General Council. Also due to collateral reasons that are usually valued in the joints, such as living problems, discomfort, noise, delinquency and responsibilities. The problem of space could be solved by placing the pool on the roof, although a technical project prepared by an architect is necessary that guarantees that the structure can support the weight, something that is not always viable. «The roof is not the most recommended due to the problem of weight that would be generated, but also of noise and vibrations of the pool itself that would harm the neighbors who are in the lower floors,» says Mendia. Regarding their approval, the construction of a pool is considered an improvement or service not required for the adequate conservation, habitability or accessibility of the property of general interest. «In both cases, the favorable vote of the three fifths of the owners is required, who must also represent three fifths of the community participation quotas,» says Céspedes. What is not so clear is if all the neighbors must pay. If the pool is considered a general interest service, such as the installation of elevator, goal, concierge or surveillance, all neighbors, even those who voted against, must assume construction and maintenance costs. If an improvement is considered, the contribution of dissidents depends on the cost of the work. If three monthly payments of ordinary expenses exceed, the neighbors who have not voted in favor are not obliged to pay for the pool or their maintenance, although this also implies that they will not be able to use it until they are updated with the payments. In case of discrepancy, the community must decide with their votes the nature of the works. «It is important to clarify it before the vote,» says Mendia. The treasurer insists on the relevance of the work and the work of the farm administrator and the architect to leave everything tied. «This type of works, which considerably modifies the operation of the community and its spending fee, will be looked at with magnifying glass to find possible challenges that paralyze the execution.» In fact, if the work is done and the challenge prosperous, the community could be forced to tear it down and leave everything in its original state. The construction of a pool is a very expensive draft work, although the budget in a community varies depending on the size, type of pool (work, prefabricated, cover …), materials, finishes and complexity. The average price is around 900 euros per square meter, they calculate in communal. For example, «in a community they had to remodel the already existing pool to be poorly executed. The cost per neighbor was around 2,500 euros, and if they had had to make it again from scratch, this amount would have increased, at least, at 2,000 euros more. It was a community of 50 owners,» says Mendia. And its annual maintenance, assuming a pool of about 150 square meters, open from May to October, is between 5,000 and 7,000 euros per year, a cost that includes disinfection, products, maintenance of the engine of the treatment plant, the maintenance of purification systems, laboratory analytics and daily cleaning, according to Céspedes. According to the company El Globo, the budget, which will depend on the size and number of owners, ranges between 150 euros and 1,000 euros per month. To this we should add the hiring of lifeguards, which will be mandatory depending on the surface of water sheet.
The summer business: Hours rental
The owners of single -family with pool can not only enjoy that space without the rest of the neighbors, but they can also monetize them, either for hours or for days. The season has already started for them. «The rental of spaces has become the summer business. In fact, the private pool rental market is today an option that grows more and more throughout Spain and is a trend that is increasingly calling the attention of owners and bathers,» explains Gerard Xalabarde, CEO CEO of Cocopool, a Spanish platform with which more than 250 pools can be rented. There are different platforms through which a pool can be offered and rent, such as Hi Place or Swimmy. The average profitability of the owners of the Spanish platform is 4,000 euros for renting their pool in summer season, reaching 10,000 euros in the case of some owners, ”according to Cocopool.
