Help: Rent, Buy an apartment or buy a house!?

Mjabbo

Hi All

I'll try to be short and sweet but really need advice for moving out from people who have done it or considered the options out there.
So I am currently 23 and living at home in the NW countryside and commute to the city for work, never been to uni and therefore never lived away.. I have a stable well paid job at ~28k b/f tax. Started saving in Jan and hit around 5.5k savings, (aiming for around 12k by 2019).
I am itching to move out but am happy to stick until 2019 and have a solid bank account for when the move comes.

So the way I see it is there are 3 options;
1) Come January rent a flat in the city (as I am cautious as to buying on my first out of house experience). After a few years when ready to settle down move back to a less populated area and buy a house. This means renting until I settle and that is a lot of money burnt.
2) Go and when I have 12k+ buy a flat in the city. Live there for a few years and when ready, rent out the flat to others through a letting agency and hope the income from that pays the mortgage and costs (and hopefully contribute to a suburban house mortgage in someway) but the whole leasehold buy to let concept is confusing me!
3) Skip the above and go buy a house with zero living experience :rotfl:

I know it is a big read but any advice or previous experience will help me make some decisions in the coming months!

Many thanks
M