A new mortgage offer from the building society Bristol & West is promising to get more graduates on the property ladder. Much has been made of the debt problems facing young people when they finish university. Record debts of around £10,000 make it very difficult for graduates to get a foot on the property ladder.

Bristol & West’s 1st Start enables parents to go in with their children to boost their borrowing power. “1st Start is an exciting innovation in the mortgage market that meets a very pressing need,” said Paul Vinnicombe, senior product manager at Bristol & West. “Many parents are caught between a rock and a hard place, on the one hand wanting to help their children get on the property ladder and on the other needing to maximise their retirement savings.

The high street bank HSBC has launched a new mortgage product aimed at first time buyers. HSBC is hoping to tap into the growing concern about the financial barriers to getting a foot on the property ladder.

The bank is offering first time buyers the option to go interest only for the first three years of a new mortgage to enable them to cover their moving costs. “HSBC has launched the first time buyer package, supported by a low-cost range of fixed rates,” Sian Lehrter, head of mortgages at HSBC said. “The idea is to get reduced monthly payments when it’s most important but without the longer term risks of an interest-only mortgage.”HSBC claims that moving house costs an average of more than £5,000.

Consumers find it difficult to get on top of their debt because their spending habits are dictated by necessity rather than their own extravagance, according to new research. The popular image of Brits happily piling up debts to support a lavish lifestyle would appear to be far from reality.

A Bradford and Bingley study found that 13 million people or 38 per cent of overspending adults claim the reason they live beyond their means is that their salary isn’t enough to live on.”The research reveals that the majority of people are aware of their debts - but they simply don’t earn enough not to rely on credit,” said Bradford & Bingley analyst Michael Senior. “This will have severe consequences for many, as the problem is only likely to be compounded month by month.”The UK’s debt mountain is now thought to have exceeded £1 trillion.

National franchiser, Mortgageforce, has announced it has received the coveted ‘Grant of Permission’ under Part IV of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.It is the first firm of its kind to receive the Grant, the Mortgage Introducer website reports.Nic Lewis, sales & development director, commented: “Whilst firms of our experience and scale had complete confidence in securing FSA authorisation, it is a highly significant moment when the FSA confirmation actually arrives.

We are naturally delighted.”Many industry experts argue that franchising remains the safest way to start and build your own business.Indeed, a recent survey by the British Franchise Association’s annual survey found that over 90 per cent of franchises reach profitability, compared with 3 in every 5 small businesses going bust outside of franchising.

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society (N&P) has announced it is reducing rates on its ten-year fixed rate mortgages. The old 5.68 per cent rate / 90 per cent LTV has now been altered to 5.57 per cent / APR 6.1 per cent. As for the 5.78 per cent rate / 90 per cent LTV, this has changed to 5.67 per cent / APR 6.2 per cent.Finally, the 5.93 per cent / 95 per cent LTV product has been reduced to 5.82 per cent / APR 6.3 per cent.N&P’s group product manager, Gary Lacey said: “We have reduced our longer fixes which is good news for customers who are keen to keep their monthly repayments locked into an attractive interest rate.

Many of our customers want to benefit from long-term stability of mortgage repayments.”He added: “And for homebuyers with higher incomes, our five and ten year schemes offer the opportunity to borrow more with the security of knowing that any upward interest rate changes won’t affect their monthly repayments.”The minimum loan on all products is £1,000 - the maximum is negotiable. The changes come in with immediate effect.

Banks worldwide have spent 61 per cent more over the last three years on anti-money laundering (AML) systems, according to a global study by KPMG. The trend is set to continue with most banks expecting spending to increase by over 40 per cent over the next three years. It demonstrates that much remains to be done to enhance anti-money laundering systems and controls.

The global chairman of KPMG Forensic, Adam Bates, says: “Increased regulation and fears over financing of terrorist groups has undoubtedly boosted investment in AML measures and the banks have rightly identified transaction monitoring and training as key areas for investment.”Two thirds of respondents (67 per cent) indicated that they have generated an increased number of suspicious activity reports (SARs) over the last three years.

Monitoring account transactions across territories was found by the report to be poorly joined up, with 46 per cent of those operating in six to ten countries unable to monitor a single customer’s transaction or account status across several different countries. The global chairman of KPMG’s Financial Services practice, Brendan Nelson, said: “The survey shows that Anti-Money Laundering is still very much ‘work in progress’ within the banking industry, with plenty of work left to be done.”

Intermediary mortgage lender Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.83 per cent, with an average 0.8 points, for the week ending September 9th.This represented an increase from last week when it averaged 5.77 per cent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.44 per cent.The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 5.22 per cent, with an average 0.8 points, also up from last week when it averaged 5.15 per cent.

A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.77 per cent.Freddie Mac believes significant job growth has helped spur mortgages “August’s 144,000-job gain, combined with a 41,000 upward revision for July, signalled a strengthening economy and helped push mortgage rates up slightly this week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. However, Fed Chairman Greenspan’s testimony to Congress yesterday outlined a less robust economy than he previously had portrayed, offsetting some of the interest rate increase.

The chancellor has warned that slow growth in the eurozone is threatening fragile global economic recovery.Speaking ahead of talks with European finance ministers on Friday, Gordon Brown told the Financial Times that Europe must tackle its low growth problem and move away from its inward-looking mindset.

He urged those in positions of power in Europe to adopt a “sense of urgency” in tackling economic reform as weak growth fuels global economic imbalances.”It is the weakness of EU growth that lies at the root of the imbalances,” he said. “The euro zone has grown by three per cent or more in just one of the last 10 years, while the US has averaged more than three per cent.”"This EU growth problem makes a new commitment to urgent and fundamental reform essential.”

It is time for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate high car prices, says the Trade and Industry select committee.The committee believes people in the UK are currently still paying too much for cars and as such the OFT should re-open its investigation into prices.

The group expressed concern that generous discounts offered to fleet buyers were not currently being offered to large retailers. It also said, compared with drivers in other European countries, British consumers are paying too much to have their cars serviced or repaired: 50 per cent more than in France and 40 per cent more than German motoristsIn a statement the all-party group announced: “In particular, many of the criteria for independent garages to achieve ‘authorised repairer’ status appear to be barriers to entry rather than driven by a genuine concern for the quality of service offered.”It added: “Neither is the quality of servicing particularly good.

Mechanics routinely miss out basic safety checks, charge for work they have not done and recommend unnecessary repairs.”As for the actual price of cars, the MPs said it saw “no reason” why fleet purchasers should benefit so much from discounts.

The number of new mortgage approvals fell sharply for a second month running in July in response to a significant rise in interest rates this year and attempts by the Bank of England to cool the market, official figures released by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors show.

Mortgage approvals in July were down 26 per cent since last December and RICS says this is official confirmation of a slowdown in the housing market. RICS also says this “concrete evidence” of a slowdown in UK housing market reflects recent RICS sales and lettings market surveys.

Approvals were last this low last March due to heightened uncertainty around the time of the Iraq war.RICS economist Milan Khatri said: “Chartered surveyors have noted a marked slowdown in the housing market since the spring, with buyer activity down significantly. Investors are showing more caution about entering the market. “The overall outlook for the market is now steadier as activity becomes less frenetic. This spells good news for first time buyers if the economic climate remains in good shape.”