Facing increasingly hot summers in Europe, the only consolation for many people is to ease the heat by soaking themselves in a pool, even if it’s a removable one. However, installing this type of pool in the garden or on the terrace may cause comments and cause some problems, as well as increased Property Tax (IBI).

Daniel and his removable pool. This past summer, Daniel, a Frenchman living north of Paris, promised to be relaxing and peaceful thanks to his investment in a new removable pool for his garden. It wasn’t just any pool, although it was removable, it was 10 meters long, 5 meters wide, 1.30 meters deep and had a water capacity of 54,368 liters. A pool woman but removable.

The plan was to insulate the garden from moisture by building it on a concrete foundation used to store firewood in the winter. That’s why he considered dismantling the pool at the end of the summer and storing it in the garage until the summer of 2024.

A swimming pool on the verge of legality. Daniel was aware that the French cadastre, like in Spain, required the registration of new construction that could increase the value of the property. In Spain it is Property Tax or IBI.

However, after consulting the city council and several expert managers in this field, Daniel chose a pool model that, although limited, did not exceed the conditions required by the regulations to consider it a movable (not real estate) property. In other words, since it is an element that is not fixed and can be moved or dismantled, it does not increase the value of the property like a construction or prefabricated pool.

treasury notification. Bad news came to Daniel with a notice from the French land registry. In it, he was told that the automatic detection system had detected that he had an undeclared pool and that he should rectify the situation by recording this, which would increase the amount of IBI.

Although everything showed that Daniel was legal, his pool remained in legal limbo, open to interpretation. Only an arbitration panel can determine whether the pool will increase its IBI, which could ruin summer plans.

Removable pools in Spain. Daniel’s case is perfectly predictable for Spain, even though it took place 800 km from the Pyrenees border. Both countries share similar legislation and detection methods. In Spain the regulation of IBI corresponds to the municipal councils, so there may be differences in the regulations between towns, but one thing should be clear: removable pools in Spain are exempt from paying IBI.

Local regulations are quite similar, but in the area of ​​rather large (more than 5 m3) removable pools there may be more problems due to each council’s interpretation. The devil is in the details, so it is advisable to consult local regulations to clear doubts.

aerial cadastre. In 2013, the Real Estate Cadastre in Spain launched a campaign to regularize cadastral references, using satellite images and drones to detect new undeclared buildings and swimming pools. These aerial vehicles allow new structures to be placed inside terraces and gardens in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

However, although anecdotal, this airborne detection system can lead to errors because it does not provide more detail and confuses a large removable pool with a fixed pool. In 2020 alone, Cadastre detected 7,132 unregulated swimming pools in Galicia alone. There were more than 11,500 people in Madrid.

Notification and regulation. When the cadastre detects an illegal infrastructure, it notifies the owner of the property within 15 days. Then, in order for the mobile pool not to be considered as a fixed structure, the owner must submit up-to-date visuals or evidence and write claims before the Economic-Administrative Court or the Cadastre Directorate. Adding a swimming pool to the home can increase IBI by 5% to 15%.

Not as important as pool use. Beyond checking with the city council about regulations regarding the installation of removable pools, it is also important to learn the regulations regarding their use and filling. You can install it in your yard or garden, but local water restrictions due to drought may prevent you from filling or using it under certain conditions. These restrictions primarily affect pools larger than 5 m3.

Image | Shelby Hunt

in Xataka | Owning a pool in Spain means having a profitable asset: there are people earning 12,000 euros a year renting pools on Swimmy

in Xataka | After the holiday rental boom comes the pool rental boom: it is expanding and already dropping bonuses of €10,000

*An earlier version of this article was published in July 2023.