Confused first time buyer.

[witorwitor]

My situation is as follows:

I live and work in Bentwood Essex. I am renting a flat at the moment which costs me 800 per month. I have about 18000 savings and my family income is 2100 per month.
I have decided that I should buy a property instead of loosing 800 every month which I could spend to repay mortgage. My plan is to buy a cheap property (I can't afford to pay large deposit) for about 85k, repay the mortgage in 5-8 years and then sell my property to get enough money for large deposit towards bigger property.
The problem is that for 85k I can buy a 2 bed flat outside expensive Brentwood area. Probably Basildon or Grays which will most likely be a leasehold. I am afraid that when I will repay the mortgage my flat will loose value so much that maybe it is just not worth the hassle.
So:
1. Does it make any sense to buy leasehold flat in my case?
2. I am prepare to make improvements to the property after buying it so maybe I should look for terraced freehold in need of modernisation?
3. What do you think about my plan in general?
4. Can you advise me better way of saving, investing and getting on property ladder?

[brian]

If your plan is to simply get on the property ladder, then getting a first property is a first priority.

However, you mention about being concerned about falls in property values - is this your primary consideration for where you move to?