I've been lurker for a while and bought a small 2 bed terrace in the south east in 2003. I've been delaying a family in the hope of trading up but refused to pay the inflated asking prices of 2004/5 - shocked like everyone else that they just kept going up. With promotions my mortgage was about 2x my salary however after considering all the excellent opinions of HPC and reading the wider press I decided to sell my house while there are still people (BTL) stupid enough to buy at the inflated prices. It would have taken a 30% drop in house prices before -ve equity however I fear it could be worse and although I know I was lucky to have a home, I didn't want a crash to force me to continue living in the same place 5 years out.

I am just about to complete and move into a nice 3 bed detached rented in a nicer area (same monthly payment as the 2 bed) & will clear about £60k however I am increasingly concerned that rising inflation will erode the sale fund and future house deposit.

I'd welcome any opinions of where you think would be a good home for the money. Should I convert to Euros buy Gold etc.

Thanks

D&D

Personally, I would spread it around the best cash savings accounts you can. I would also seriously consider losing a bit of interest on the best buys and opting for a supposedly safe place such as the Nationwide or Lloyds. IMPO the coming credit crisis is going to be bad and I personally am concerned about the safety of the likes of A&L and Bradford & Bingley - both who apparently are big BTL lenders.

If you're concerned about inflation, why not try sticking £15k into an NS&I Index-linked Certificate?

Thanks for taking the time and offering advice - I'll look into the savings accounts on offer.

Agreed , but to the OP you could do both issues { 30k}, only need to hold for 12 complete months , no tax should beat all savings accounts in that time and backed by the treasury . Hope you and any partner have done your cash ISA this year as well , and ready to do one soon for next tax year , allowance then up to £3,600.