Lockdown savers planning £36bn injection into UK economy when restrictions ease
● Britons plan to spend 35 per cent of their lockdown savings when restrictions ease — a potential £36bn boost to the economy
● More than two-thirds of adults have been able to save money during the pandemic
● Those who have saved plan to spend more than £1,000 on average when life starts to return to normal
Britons who managed to save money during the pandemic are planning a £36bn spending spree when restrictions ease, according to new research1.
The study, by ethical savings provider Gatehouse Bank, found more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of people have been able to put money away during the pandemic due to reduced expenditure such as commuting and other travel, as well as an inability to spend as much on leisure activities including eating out and leisure pursuits.
Respondents to the survey, conducted in the run-up to the launch of the bank’s new Green Saver accounts, say they are now looking to spend around a third (35 per cent) of those funds, £1,019 on average, when things return to ‘normal’.
The most popular expenditure will be on holidays, with 11 per cent hoping to travel abroad and one in ten intending to take a vacation in the UK, with home renovation also a popular choice, with 10 per cent planning a major makeover project.
A cautious 14 per cent of the population said they were going to invest their nest egg for the future, despite a backdrop of falling savings rates.
Charles Haresnape, CEO at Gatehouse Bank, said: “With the economy locked down repeatedly for months at a time, more than half the adult population is sitting on extra savings.
“The news that people plan to spend a third of these funds when lockdown ends will be music to the ears of businesses and the Government, who know that an instant injection of consumer spending will be critical for the country’s economic recovery.
“For those looking to put some of those extra savings away for the future, though, the outlook is not so rosy as good savings rates are proving hard to find, so it’s more critical than ever that savers shop around.”
The bank has four fixed-term deposit accounts and four ISAs, all of which are Green Saver, where a tree will be planted for each account opened and the carbon credits registered on behalf of customers.
As a Shariah-compliant ethical bank, Gatehouse does not pay or earn interest, instead it pays profit from earnings made on customers’ deposits. In addition, savers’ deposits are never used to support sectors such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, adult entertainment and the arms industry.