House sale money

Luckyspal

I have £600k from the recent sale of my house and I want to take some time (about 1 year) deciding what to buy and where.  Can anyone advise the best options for what to do with this money during this time?
Many thanks

PRAISETHESUN

You'll be protected by the FSCS temporary high balance rules for 6 months, after which you'll need to divide the money up across multiple banks to make sure it is protected in full. As for what to do with it, if you know for sure you'll need it in 12 months it's probably best to keep it in some form of cash savings (too short a time frame for investing). Probably a fixed-term deposit or a notice account I'd say.

unkle

£50k in Premium Bonds, the remainder spread amongst 7 cash accounts. All assuming you aren't prepared to take any risks with the cash (1 year is too short a time frame really).
Check out the Best Buy tables on here, but if you go for a fixed term make sure you are confident on the time length that you won't need it before that. 

Also remember you are likely to have to pay some income tax on the interest if you are holding for a year (assuming you are employed earning more than £12.5k approx) so if you can a Cash ISA with £20k but depends on the rates available and won't make much difference to the overall.

eskbanker

NS&I isn't constrained by the FSCS limit and protects sums up to £1m, so is the simplest solution, but the interest rate is poor....

Luckyspal

Thanks to all respondents.  I will put £100k in Premium bonds (for my wife and myself) and just keep the balance in our current accounts for now.

Eco_Miser

£500k in current accounts seems too much.

First you are only covered for £85k per person per institution (after the initial 6 months).

Second, you won't be earning much (any) interest. Put it in savings accounts, the rates are still poor but could amount to £2k over a year.