A DAD is now making £85,000 a year from his garden after once tipping cash down the drain.
Steve Crum, 65, is renting out the swimming pool in his garden after years of struggling with the expensive upkeep costs of his large Cheshire Victorian family home.
Steve pays £500 a month to heat the pool and said it was "wasted" with "no one" in his house he wasn't getting his money's worth.
As costs mounted, Steve looked into replacing the pool completely with bedrooms to then rent out on Airbnb.
But when he was quoted £20,000 for the work, he decided to advertise the pool on a local Facebook group.
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Steve, who previously worked in IT, said: "It was maybe used to be used once a week before.
"I thought 'hang on we have a swimming pool, what about renting the pool out?'
"I didn't have any expectations.
"The swimming pool is busy from 8am to 9pm. It's our main income.
"It's a joy to see people coming and going."
He said the pool outside his home in Warrington is fully booked from 8am to 9pm year round.
It costs £25 for a private 90 minutes one person session and £56 for a group of eight.
He said it's a hit with people who don't like to swim in public.
In the first few years Steve made £40,000 to £50,000 but now makes £85,000 a year.
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Steve said: "It's unbelievable."
He finds people come to his pool who can't or don't want to go to a public pool for body conscious reasons.
Steve also has lots of special needs groups who are able to swim in the private environment.
Steve's sons Nick, 39, a film producer, and Dave Crum, 37, a financial adviser, have also launched an app to capitalise on the idea.
The swimming pool is busy from 8am to 9pm. It's our main income
Steve Crum
Swimple, launched last year, now has six active pools listed.
Nick said: "It's very rewarding for many reasons.
"It's a different swimming experience.
"Everyone gets to have a little bit of luxury.
"It's usually something you only get on holiday.
"There is less and less access to swimming. We're trying to combat that."
Steve said: "When I started it just thought about the money.
"I had no idea what lovely people you get.
"It's really rewarding. People get so much out of the swimming pool.
"We want to get more people swimming.
"We want to get more access to pools around the UK.
"Pools are cost sucking. They have a tendency to de-value properties."
