£150,000 lump sum from house sale...now what?

Newbeginnings1

Hi,

I will have a cash lump sum of £150,000. I currently have a building society account and a normal Current bank account, but I understand that I need to divide it into two different banks to protect it when I'm ready to purchase a new house just in case? What banks would you advise where I can get easy access with earning a bit of interest?

Albermarle

You do not need to split it up for the first 6 months.
Temporary high balances | Check your money is protected | FSCS

There are numerous savings providers offering easy access accounts.
Best Easy Access Savings Accounts (moneyfactscompare.co.uk)

ForumUser7

Newbeginnings1 said:

Hi,

I will have a cash lump sum of £150,000. I currently have a building society account and a normal Current bank account, but I understand that I need to divide it into two different banks to protect it when I'm ready to purchase a new house just in case? What banks would you advise where I can get easy access with earning a bit of interest?

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/?quick-links-first=false

FSCS protects up to 85k, remember to leave space for interest earned, and take care when using banks that share protection (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6447849/fscs-scheme-shared-institutions)

As Albermarle says, temporary high balance protection may apply, but from what I’ve read, it is usually more of a pain to claim than the standard 85k

TiVo_Lad

High Balance Protection is at the discretion of the scheme and needs to be claimed, unlike the £85K cover which is automatic. Therefore, you'd be well advised to split the funds and pop them into accounts with any FSCS-protected financial institution. MSE, Savings Champ and MoneyFacts all have league tables. Take your pick.

wmb194

Or, for an easy life*, deposit it all with NS&I where you don't need to worry about the FSCS as it'll be backed in full and directly by the government but you'll pay in a lower return.

*Well, easy-ish. NS&I has its quirks.

Bigwheels1111

I have Chip at 3.82% and Tandem Bank @ 3.75%.
Both near instant access for deposits and withdrawals.
From memory both use open banking, do not deposit with a debit card as take 3 days.
Open accounts but don’t use card, then go into the account and click add funds etc.
Very quick and simple.
The only issues might come from your bank, fraud checks.
So do it in the morning, that gives you the rest of the day to sort it out.

metrobus

If you know it’s going to be at least 6 maths Atom at 4.5% is not bad , if longer you will get better, maybe better out there for 6 months just saying what I hold.

boingy

You've already had some great suggestions but it would help us hone in on the best suggestion if we knew a little more about you and your plans.

1. How long will you have the money for before buying another house?
2. How much notice could you give to withdraw it?
3. What is your tax situation? With interest rates as they are, and depending upon your earnings, it might not take long before interest on that amount of money starts to become taxable so it might be worth putting some it in an ISA. 
4. Are you happy with App-only banks or do you want a more traditional bank, perhaps even with a physical branch local to you?

I know that's a lot of questions but there are a lot of options!

Albermarle

Are you happy with App-only banks or do you want a more traditional bank, perhaps even with a physical branch local to you?

In fact probably the majority of savings providers are not app only, and do not have branches.
They are online ( some with associated apps, some not) .