I am a young professional with £23K a year income. Can I buy a flat in outer London?
One option available to you is to buy half the property and rent the other half. These kind of mortgages are known as shared ownership mortgages. Often the rented portion is quite affordable. The main benefit is that you can buy the other half of the property once your income increases as a young proffesional pay increase in the next year or so are likely so a shared ownership mortgages could be suitable. To find properties that are available on a shared ownership mortgages contact local housing associations, these normally offer shared ownership on a 25% 50% or 75% split all shared ownership mortgages offer staircasing where you can buy rented portion at a later date. More information can be found here.
