depends on the state you in..we lived in Melbourne on arrival and yeah would be a waste, but then moved to QLD and rented a house with a pool wasnt on our list of criteria but once you had a summer here and a house with a pool theres no goin back... just moved into our own home with no pool and its now the no 1 priority over everythin!!!!

oh yeah forgot to add they def add value on your home.

We wouldn't be without ours. My two have spent pretty much all arvo in ours. Isn't a pain, you do need to keep on top of it as Biggy says but we have a great pool shop nearby, regularly use the test strips and have hardly had to use any chemicals bar a bit of salt and some stabiliser.

They don't always. It's dependent on area - only good in areas where there are a lot of families with young kids. I know a few people who've filled theirs in when the kids grew up as they didn't want the hassle of maintaining something they never used.

A pool is the last thing some people want. I'd never buy a house with one.

If we owned our house we would defo put one in. If and when we buy first thing we'll do is install a pool.

We have a pool in our rental (last 19mths) and the house we have bought has one. Although it was not on high list of priorites to do if we ended up buying somewhere without.

For us we have hardly used it - spent more time maintaining it. Some of the reasons:
Too cold a lot of the time - 2 winters, no heating, no cover, only gets direct sun in arvo to heat it up.
Have very young children - ie need to be in pool to supervise, or too cold for bubs, or they wake up just as I think about putting a cossie on

I can see the pool at our house getting used as the children get older, not just by them (great way to tire them out!) but also for me to swim in rather that just splash around with the kids. Plus it it has solar heating & nth facing so should extend time it is used for during the year

I would never build another pool again. A complete waste of time and money.

If I were to build again then I would consider a spa instead. A LOT cheaper, you can use it year round even in the depths of winter and frankly thats what most people use their pool for anyway - sitting in it drinking. Most pools are not any decent size or depth to consider using for health reasons such as lap swimming.

I think that many Brits find the novelty value good, but wait a couple of years and you wont use it again.

For kids many different but I'd get a heated spa and keep the $15-20k I'd save (not to mention the hassle).

That's exactly what happened to us. Went through all the hasstle and money of putting in a pool and then hardly used it. This was the second pool too so we should have known better Having said that, if you have young kids you probably will use it far more..

This time we got a heated spa and have used it far more than we ever did the pool. It's absolutly bloody fantastic and I'd never ever get a pool again.

I reckon maybe a pool if you got kids, a spa if you haven't

or like we have, both

Aye, posh buggar

Its a myth that pools use lots of water.......I haven't topped up from town water for over 18 months now......have a downpipe diverter which cost about $100 to buy and install. My pool has been more full than it should be i.e. over the top of the skimmer box for months even with relatively little rain. If your pool is consuming massive amounts of water there's probably a leak somewhere.

If you're a pommie migrant to Oz and want to "live the dream" you've got to have a pool - it's the law!

I reckon that's because you're kids are pissing in it!

Must be the possums then.....no sprogs here!

Depends where you live mate . In Melbourne , well maybe if you have young kids it might be worth it , but i can't see the point . If its really hot i'd go to the beach and if its not , well i wouldn't use it anyway.

You'd get far more use out of a Spa , cheaper to buy / install and takes up less space.

Also think a Spa is more likely to add value to a house as its got wider appeal. Many people would get put off buying a house if it has a pool.