Savings - where to put them?

[Notshortnottall]

I know there's some savvy fiscal knowledge on here so thought it an appropriate place to come for some advice and possibly some pointers in the right direction.

I have a significant amount of money (five figures but less than six) which I want to put in a safe place should it be needed for larger (planned) purchases in the future.

Key requirements are:

• Relatively low risk (savings account or similar)
• No unplanned access needed within the next 3-5 years

Anything else you need to know? At the moment it's sat in a current account, but would be nice to start earning some decent interest / return on it if possible. If that comes with too much of a risk, then maybe I'll think again but unfortunately I'm finding it difficult to get truly "independent" financial advice at the moment.

I've had a look around at the standard 1.5-2% savings accounts, but they return sweet FA over a significant period of time and for a not too insignaificant amount (although I realise it's all relative, I'd want a bit more than a couple of hundred back in interest per year).

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Notshortnottall on Monday 11th November 20:27

[curley]

if its 3 to 5 years i would go for some inflation protection .

What about a spread of equity income bearing unit trusts with income reinvested . 3 or 4 % income with some capital growth should be possible .

[xreyuk]

If you want it to be safe, you could stick it in an ISA, but again, interest rates are quite low at the moment.

Virgin have a fixed 3 year ISA that's paying 3%. Obviously you only get a tax free cash limit of around £5,400.

[rog007]

One of a number of peer-to-peer loan outfits?