Residents Complain About £164,250 Sky Pool Heating Bill When It's 'Too Cold' To Use
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Residents who live in the swanky London development that boasts a ‘Sky Pool’ suspended 35 metres above the ground between two buildings have complained that they have to pay to heat the pool through winter when it’s too cold to swim.
The residents of Embassy Gardens, which is part of the upmarket Nine Elms area, want the ‘floating’ pool to close down ‘while it is too cold to use it’ because it costs a huge amount of money to heat.
If you want a number, it reportedly costs £164,250 to keep the pool warm through the winter.
That’s a lot for a swimming pool that isn’t being used.
The Sky Pool has captured a few headlines recently, not least because it looks incredibly weird and vaguely terrifying, but also because it’s needlessly opulent.
However, if swimming in a giant takeaway container way above the streets of London is your thing, and you can afford it, it’s probably great.
It also boasts impressive views of the US Embassy Building – hence the development’s name – as well as the Houses of Parliament and London Eye.
The pool – which is only open to residents and guests - is kept heated to a balmy 30 degrees Celsius at all times.
That particular bill is footed by the annual service charges that are picked up by residents on top of rent, mortgages, and bills.
If you owned a two-bedroom flat in there, you’d pay £9,000.
The cheapest property in the development starts at an asking price of £695,000.
However, according to some residents the pool isn’t usable at the minute because the cover that keeps the water warm at night is broken.
A couple told The Sun: “It is too cold to be used at the moment so it seems mad that we’re still having to pay to heat it.
“If it’s £450 a day and, at most, five people are using it, that’s £90 per swim. That hardly seems like value for money.”
Another tenant added: “We’re livid. The outside temperature has obviously dropped, but the Sky Pool is still open to residents and currently uncovered.
“We’re basically heating the sky."
However, the property’s developer Ballymore claims that the pool is being used, and that people swim ‘every day’ during the wintertime.
Furthermore, a spokesperson said that the pool was used 90 times in the week before Christmas Eve alone.
They also said that their service charges are reasonable, and other developments’ charges are ’30 percent or 40 percent higher’.
Ballymore said: “The Sky Pool is a world-class leisure facility unlike any other swimming pool in London, providing an unrivalled experience for Embassy Garden residents and their guests throughout the year."
“We know from residents how popular the pool is even during colder periods. Embassy Gardens provides residents with a range of luxury amenities, while keeping service charges markedly lower than at comparable developments elsewhere in the Nine Elms area.
“The Sky Pool is kept at a constant temperature of 30°C which is the standard for leisure pools.”
