My partner and I bought a house 4 years ago. We didn't have any savings, basically we were on poor wages and were renting a teeny tiny house, wanted to start a family... etc etc.
We got fairly decent pay rises one year and decided it was time to get a family house and invest in a property rather than chucking money down the drain renting.
We had a small loan from upgrading our car, so we decided to increase the loan to pay for a deposit and any upfront fees. Ordinarily, this is not the brightest thing to do but with house prices rocketing, we felt if we saved up for god knows how long, we'd be totally priced out of the market.
Needless to say, our house has almost doubled in value in the last 4 years, so it was a wise move. We now have our own modest 3 bed semi with a big garden for our toddler to run amok in - had we saved a deposit and bought now, we wouldn't even be able to afford a tiny, gardenless, 2-up, 2-down terrace on the next street to us. I don't envy anyone trying to get a foot on the ladder, it's a horrible situation to be in.
I suppose it depends on the housing market - they say it's going to drop, but then again who knows for sure?