Where to keep a 6-figure house deposit ahead of purchase

rd_se3

A simple (and probably quite dumb) question that I can't find an answer for. I'm in the lucky position to have a 6-figure deposit for a house - that is currently split across a few bank/savings accounts. When it comes to the purchase, given the FSCS protection limit in banks is 85k - how do I best hold this all in one place for a short period of time ahead of the transfer of moneys safely without having to shift a few lumps of money all on the same day? Many thanks.

Emmia

https://www.fscs.org.uk/making-a-claim/claims-process/temporary-high-balances/

The trick would be to move the money into the single account shortly before the purchase, so you minimise the time that you're over the £85k limit. 

The limit only matters if the bank fails, as it's the guarantee of what they'll cover - you can have much more than this in an account.

nicmyles

If you have a temporarily high balance due to property transactions, including money deposited in preparation for buying a main residence (which can be for up to six months), the limit is £1m, not £85k. And only relevant in the extremely unlikely event the bank fails during the small period of time the money is in situ.

bolwin1

As the NS&I bank is part of the UK government, you have unlimited protection, not just £85K. That's where I held  my house deposit. https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/security/protect-your-money

boxhat

Does anyone remember the tv series "Years and Years" It was about a man who lost £1.2million as he left it in the bank after house selling (the banks then collapsed)  I thought that isn't right, you can have a temporary amount for property of £1m range. So he wouldn't have lost it all changing the entire premise of the program.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8694364/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_11_act

MultiFuelBurner

Happy to keep some safe for you 😜

I would split it as others have said into seperate banks (check which are linked) £85k each.

Emmia

MultiFuelBurner said:

Happy to keep some safe for you 😜

I would split it as others have said into seperate banks (check which are linked) £85k each.

I think the OP already has it split, they want to combine it into a single place before transferring for the property purchase in one go...

propertyrental

boxhat said:

Does anyone remember the tv series "Years and Years" It was about a man who lost £1.2million as he left it in the bank after house selling (the banks then collapsed)  I thought that isn't right, you can have a temporary amount for property of £1m range. So he wouldn't have lost it all changing the entire premise of the program.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8694364/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_11_act

dom't remember it and reading your link involvs ploughing through lots of carp.

But if 'years and years' is involved yes, he'd lose it after a bank collapse.

The £1m protection of money for/rom a property transaction is temporary - 6 months.

boxhat

propertyrental said:

boxhat said:

Does anyone remember the tv series "Years and Years" It was about a man who lost £1.2million as he left it in the bank after house selling (the banks then collapsed)  I thought that isn't right, you can have a temporary amount for property of £1m range. So he wouldn't have lost it all changing the entire premise of the program.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8694364/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_11_act

dom't remember it and reading your link involvs ploughing through lots of carp.

But if 'years and years' is involved yes, he'd lose it after a bank collapse.

The £1m protection of money for/rom a property transaction is temporary - 6 months.

The link is just to the tv series on imdb. It was really only for people who have seen it to remind them as I had seen it but couldn't remember the name.

The story is a family man loses £1.2 million after leaving his house sale funds in the bank for a single night. The next morning all the banks collapse, it's a kind of apocalyptic type series. Pretty popular show, millions of viewers, set in realistic recent times. Yet it is incorrect, he would not have lost everything. I guess would have lost £200k but not the £1.2million.

GrumbleBee

Judging by experience from some neighbours over the road recently, I would say definitely not in cash kept in the home (though there's was only 5 figures, but still..)

rd_se3

bolwin1 said:

As the NS&I bank is part of the UK government, you have unlimited protection, not just £85K. That's where I held  my house deposit. https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/security/protect-your-money

Thanks. Would be interested to know whether you can do a CHAPS transfer from an NS&I account when the day comes, assume you can... am thinking this is the best idea because as much as my property will become my main property eventually, there is a delay to selling my main property so I'm not 100% sure that the FSCS will support me if all goes wrong with the bank holding the money and the FSCS have been quite vague in their answers to me about the strict definition of main property.