What to do with £60-70k equity when house sells?

truff

I needed to move quickly, so have moved into a rented property and my previous house is currently up for sale. When it sells I expect to have around £60 -70k in equity.

I plan to buy another house once I know I'm staying in the area, which will probably be in around 6-12 months.

My priorities for the money whilst it's in my possession are security - I want to come out with at least the same as I started - and also reasonable ease of access - say a month's notice or so. I realise that these criteria limit my options but if anyone has advice on what I should or shouldn't do with the money I'd be very happy to hear them.

xrjtg

Stick with instant access savings accounts. The best rate available at the moment is 2.75%, but read the article on the main site for the details and other options. Until 1 November up to £50000 per banking group is guaranteed by the Government (giving you your cast iron safety), rising to around £85000 after that.

If you're happy with the admin involved there's some finessing to be done: for example, 3 Lloyds Vantage current accounts will pay 4% on up to £7000 each if you move £1000 around the three accounts once a month.

EDIT: the compensation limit goes up at the end of this year. I also know the AA are paying me 2.8%, so I'm not sure where that came from either!

gizmo111

Use your ISA allowance up first as well.

alanq

xrjtg wrote: »

Stick with instant access savings accounts. The best rate available at the moment is 2.75%,

2.89% AER (including 12-month bonus) from NatWest e-Savings BUT it seems that the bonus to give that rate does not start immediately so open an account with £1 a couple of months before making a large deposit.

Loughton_Monkey

alanq wrote: »

2.89% AER (including 12-month bonus) from NatWest e-Savings BUT it seems that the bonus to give that rate does not start immediately so open an account with £1 a couple of months before making a large deposit.

This advice is good and highly relevant to the NatWest account.

But even if you choose any of the other options, take strong advice that you should open the account well in advance (with a fiver or something), otherwise you risk having £75K not working, while you wait for the account(s) to be set up.

Also, remember the £50K FSCS limit. Possibly worth breaking it down over two accounts.

neil324

xrjtg wrote: »

Stick with instant access savings accounts. The best rate available at the moment is 2.75%, but read the article on the main site for the details and other options. Until 1 November up to £50000 per banking group is guaranteed by the Government (giving you your cast iron safety), rising to around £85000 after that.

If you're happy with the admin involved there's some finessing to be done: for example, 3 Lloyds Vantage current accounts will pay 4% on up to £7000 each if you move £1000 around the three accounts once a month.

Is it november 1st. thought it was 31st dec

pmcx9

From 18th Oct Marks and Spencer Money have a 3yr Bond offering 3.5%. Whilst you may not want the 3 years fix the penalty for withdrawing (the whole amount is only option) is a fixed £100.
IMHO seems a better option than any of the ones mentioned above.

xrjtg

neil324 wrote: »

Is it november 1st. thought it was 31st dec

I have no idea where I parroted that from. You're quite correct.

truff

Thanks to everyone for the tips and advice. I'm hoping to deposit the money before the 31 December, so I'll prepare now by opening two savings accounts ready to deposit the money in when the house sale is complete.