{"id":287955,"date":"2025-07-24T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/287955\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T13:00:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T13:00:24","slug":"why-mini-swimming-pools-are-becoming-popular-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/287955\/","title":{"rendered":"Why mini swimming pools are becoming popular in France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Property owners in France are increasingly installing smaller swimming pools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reasons are varied, but sales professionals cite reduced garden sizes in new-build homes and shrinking household budgets as major factors.<\/p>\n

More diverse clients, coupled with different aspirations, are also driving the trend, as well as the fact tiny pools are exempt from taxation.<\/p>\n

Once largely the preserve of second-homes in rural areas, the demand for pools has now extended to main homes in urban areas. Small pools, in particular, now account for a significant percentage of total revenues for installers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DIFFAZUR\n <\/p>\n

Swimming pool trends<\/p>\n

France is the second-largest market for swimming pools globally, with approximately 3.5 million installed in the country, behind the US with 10.4 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, France has the highest number of pools per capita, with one pool for every 19 people, compared to one for every 31 in the US.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen a steady rise in smaller pools since the 1970s. As budgets shrink, so do garden sizes, which impacts the size of swimming pools. Everything is adapted to this new reality,\u201d said Philippe Bach, president of swimming pool firm Procopi, in a documentary released a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\"Triangular<\/p>\n

DIFFAZUR\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThis trend is even more pronounced today,\u201d Gilles Mouchiroud, executive director at Desjoyaux swimming pool company, told The Connexion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirty years ago, we sold 12m x 6m pools. Twenty years ago, it was 10m x 5m, and 10 years ago, 8m x 5m. Today, we are selling more 7m x3.5m pools, even 6m x3m.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrien Saget, director of sales at swimming pool company Diffazur, compared the trend to the boom of city cars in the mid-2010s. \u201cA proportion of clients preferred smaller, fully-equipped cars over bulky 4x4s,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0France identifies undeclared pools with satellite technology<\/a> <\/p>\n

Small pools mean big sales<\/p>\n

Diffazur\u2019s equivalent of a city car is the IXESS, a mini swimming pool marketed as offering “maxi-comfort”. Sizes range from 10m\u00b2 to 22m\u00b2, with prices from \u20ac30,000 to \u20ac80,000 depending on transportation, installation costs, and equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a surprise. We did not expect this product to become so popular,\u201d said Mr. Saget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company now offers six different IXESS models to meet demand, and this particular pool represents 15% of Diffazur\u2019s total sales, or 150 pools per year.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

DIFFAZUR\n <\/p>\n

At Desjoyaux, small pools make up between 8% to 10% of sales.<\/p>\n

Orders for mini swimming pools are coming from across France \u2013 not only from the already mature market in the south, Mr Mouchiroud noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Small<\/p>\n

DIFFAZUR\n <\/p>\n

Even in southern France, the strongest market for pool companies, there has been a surge in demand from a new profile of owners.<\/p>\n

Mr Saget said that homeowners in central Nice, for example, are joining the trend. They tend to use mini pools as additional rooms of relaxation, rather than for swimming or sports, as was common decades ago.<\/p>\n

Smaller pools also mean less maintenance, and companies have developed products and systems to maximise comfort, often including heating systems, cleaning machines, and home automation tools.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Small swimming pools make a splash in France<\/a> <\/p>\n

Another factor driving the demand for mini pools is their tax status \u2013 exempt if they measure less than 10m\u00b2. Any bigger and the French government considers pools taxable assets because they increase property value. In 2025, each square metre cost \u20ac262.<\/p>\n

\"Small<\/p>\n

DIFFAZUR\n <\/p>\n

Many pools are undeclared, and the government has recently made efforts to better identify tax-evading owners. Using artificial intelligence tools, it found more than 20,356 undeclared pools in 2022, collecting \u20ac10million in taxes.<\/p>\n

Both Mr Saget and Mr Mouchiroud note that the relative absence of administrative paperwork is a compelling reason for clients to choose mini pools. However, they must still comply with local urban planning regulations (Plan local d\u2019urbanisme).<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our duties is to advise our clients about these regulations. Several of them were unaware that they had to file a construction declaration with the French tax authorities and inform their insurance company,\u201d said Mr Saget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Property owners in France are increasingly installing smaller swimming pools.\u00a0 The reasons are varied, but sales professionals cite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-287955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114908340324856426","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}