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Hi, sorry for the delay in replying, and thanks for your offer of help!
I've since spoken to a mortgage broker and he recommended to buy the house as a 95% mortgage, not saying anything about the buy-to-let idea as this would attract either a higher interest / repayment rate or a larger deposit. The intention is to buy a house and rent out several of the rooms to my friends, as we're all due to go back to university for our final three years worth of training. This gets me onto the property ladder approximately 5 years before the point where I could afford it by myself. The benefit for my friends is the lower rate of rent that I'd be charging!!