First time buyer woes! Does anyone have any advice?

Hi all. Basically I'm a nurse (25 years old) and like many others have been scrimping and saving to try and get a mortgage and a place of my own. Currently I am living with my parents and whilst they are lovely and I'm very grateful for all of their help I would love a bit more space and a place of my own. I also met someone a while ago (an IT technician) and we have talked about maybe getting a place together if things are still going well in a year or so. However he has barely any savings at present. So far I have only aculated about �5000 for a deposit and property prices around here are expensive (a reasonable one bedroom flat alone is about �110,00); and more and more mortgage lenders are wanting 15-20% deposit. Ideally as well I'd love a house but on a mortgage basis that would be completely unrealistic around here, and so it would probably just end up being a small flat. The question is do you think I should save a bit longer and try and get a mortgage, or give up until the market improves and just rent somewhere in the meanwhile, even though I know it'll be difficult to save if I'm having to pay rent / bills. I'm so confused at the moment. I know it's sad but I spend hours looking at property prices and am so frustrated. Even on the HomeBuy scheme you usually need a fairly sizeable deposit to start with, choice of properties are limited, and monthly repayments are usually quite high with the combined mortage / rent payments. Has anyone got any advice?