A 65-year-old man has made the most out of his home swimming pool by letting shy people rent it out, leading to him making £85,000 a year from the hustle.
Steve Crum wanted to find a better way of coping with the expensive maintenance of his family-sized Victorian home in Warrington, Cheshire. The former IT worker thought about replacing the pool in his garden with two additional bedrooms so he could Airbnb a portion of the property.
Crum's family rarely used the pool, as they would dip into the water just once a week. At the same time, Crum was paying £500 each month to heat it.
However, going down the Airbnb route would have set Crum back £20,000, so he came up with the idea of renting the pool out to people. An advertisement was posted on a local Facebook group in August 2021, and soon, Crum began reaping the benefits.
Throughout the year, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., someone can privately rent out Crum's swimming pool for 90 minutes, costing them just £25. A group of eight people can enjoy a session at the Warrington house for a well-valued deal of £56.
Within the first few years of the pool being available to rent, the British senior was earning between £40,000 to £50,000 annually. Crum's current income of £85,000 a year from the rent displays that he made a wise business decision when ditching his Airbnb plans and renting out his pool instead.
Crum revealed that body-conscious people rent out his pool because they may not feel comfortable swimming in a public environment. People with special needs also use the pool to enjoy themselves in a private place free of judgment from others.
The money collected from renting out the pool has become the Crum family's primary source of income, which surprised the 65-year-old as he "didn't have any expectation" when rolling out the idea.
Crum said about his success renting out his pool, "When I started it, I just thought about the money. I had no idea what lovely people you get. People get so much out of the swimming pool."
Crum's two sons, film producer Nick and financial adviser Dave, have followed in their father's footsteps and formed their way of renting pools to people. The two brothers co-founded 'Swimple', which allows people to search online for rented-out pool spots and lets people list their pool to monetise.
Langford, Somerset, Monmouth and Golborne are the places across the UK where people can currently rent out pools via Swimple.
Nick explained what his business offers: "It's a different swimming experience. Everyone gets to have a little bit of luxury. It's usually something you only get on holiday."
Touching on the aims of Swimple, the 39-year-old commented: "There is less and less access to swimming. We're trying to combat that."
Crum echoed his son's thoughts: "We want to get more people swimming. We want to get more access to pools around the UK."
