A luxury south west London swimming pool has been criticising for reserving membership for the elite.   

Footage of dizzying views from the sky-high pool has been splashed across social media this week, but shared-ownership residents are complaining that they cannot join the fun.

The pool, located between two blocks of flats in Nine Elms, is transparent and offers views of London's skyline.

Thrill-seekers can swim 115ft above the ground while admiring scenes of the US Embassy, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.

The 25-metre long pool allows exclusive Embassy Garden members to swim between the two blocks of apartments, in an experience that has been compared to 'flying'.

However, not all residents can enjoy a dip above the rest of London.  

In February, a resident who lives in the flats through shared ownership told The Guardian that he cannot access the swimming pool.

Nadeem Iqbals’ two-bedroom flat is valued at £800,000, of which he owns a quarter and pays rent on the rest.

“We have a front-row seat of the Sky Pool. But the sad thing for us, living in the shared-ownership building, is that we will never have access to it.

“It’s only there for us to look at, just like the nice lobby, and all of the other facilities for the residents of the private blocks. Nobody expects these amenities for free, but we’re not even given the choice to pay for them.”

At 82ft and holding 400 tonnes of water, the sky pool is the main feature of the Embassy Gardens development by EcoWorld Ballymore, which features bars, restaurants, landscaped gardens, a retail space and office space.

The development includes 2,000 homes and luxury apartments, with apartment prices starting at £695,000.

Ecoworld Ballymore said the shared ownership properties are managed by separate companies, which did not purchase access to the swimming pool.

A spokesperson for Ecoworld Ballymore said:

“All residents at Embassy Gardens receive the same service in terms of estate management, security, general building safety and energy supply. The shared-ownership properties at Embassy Gardens are owned and managed by Peabody and Optivo.

“When Peabody and Optivo acquired their elements of the development prior to construction, they had the option to choose which facilities they wanted to buy into for their residents. To retain a more affordable service charge, they elected to not include access to the health club, cinema, pools, business centre, lounges, concierge and post room.

“These facilities and their ongoing operation and maintenance are paid for through the higher service charges paid by residents of these homes. The homes and accessible facilities were outlined to residents at the point of purchase. A number of other public amenities, including bars, restaurants and a cycle studio are included within the development.”