Best bank to go with for savings?

Mikej92

Hi, wondering if people can give me some options, my partner and I are around 1 year out from going for a mortgage, we save in our general banking accounts, no savings/isa etc, but we’re going to make the current savings as a deposit in a savings account.

just wondering what the best bank to go with is, as it’ll potentially be the bank we go for a mortgage with. Thanks.

anniecave

There's not usually anything to be gained by loyalty across banking/borrowing/saving products.  So I would pick a good rate now for your savings with any provider (the vast majority of savings providers are easy to apply for online anyway) and look at options for mortgages when the time comes.  

Mikej92

Thank you!anniecave said:

There's not usually anything to be gained by loyalty across banking/borrowing/saving products.  So I would pick a good rate now for your savings with any provider (the vast majority of savings providers are easy to apply for online anyway) and look at options for mortgages when the time comes.  

Kat78MFW

If you are both first time buyers and under 40, you can both open lifetime ISAs and get a 25% bonus each. You have to use the funds for a house deposit on a property priced at £450 000 or less. It has to be open 1 year before you can use it. I think each of you can put £4000 into a LISA each tax year. 

Mikej92

Kat78MFW said:

If you are both first time buyers and under 40, you can both open lifetime ISAs and get a 25% bonus each. You have to use the funds for a house deposit on a property priced at £450 000 or less. It has to be open 1 year before you can use it. I think each of you can put £4000 into a LISA each tax year. 

Oh, are they still a thing? I read a few years back they were stopping the ‘first time buyer is a’?

Bridlington1

Mikej92 said:

Kat78MFW said:

If you are both first time buyers and under 40, you can both open lifetime ISAs and get a 25% bonus each. You have to use the funds for a house deposit on a property priced at £450 000 or less. It has to be open 1 year before you can use it. I think each of you can put £4000 into a LISA each tax year. 

Oh, are they still a thing? I read a few years back they were stopping the ‘first time buyer is a’?

I suspect you may be thinking of Help to Buy ISAs, which were withdrawn for new applicants in 2019. LISAs on the other hand have continued to be offered.

Also why use only one bank? You can usually earn more interest by spreading your money across multiple different accounts e.g. sticking £4k in Santander's 7% Edge Saver, drip-feeding your money across several high paying regular savers etc. Plus another advantage of multiple accounts is that if you have issues with your main bank, e.g. technical issues, account being frozen etc you will still have access to some of your savings.

friolento

A couple of building societies sometimes offer a few hundred pounds to people who save with them and then take out a mortgage with them. You need to check the detils to see whether this is attractive to you. Check Skiption, Yorkshire Building Society, Coventry Building Society