Mortgage advisor/broker?

I want to apply for a first time mortgage soon, wondering if anyone can recommend a good broker. I want to at least get some proper advice before I dive in. I made some enquiries in banks during the summer and was told the only place I was coming up short for approval was proof of rent or savings for at least 6 months, which I now have. I could probably go to the banks myself but I'm not great at dealing with these kinds of things and i think maybe a broker who knows the market could get me a better deal.

Also, does anyone know roughly what is being offered out there at the moment? When I looked into it before, the general idea was 80% not exceeding 3 or 4 times your annual salary. I rang the consumer agency recently and while they were reluctant to give any kind of figures, they mentioned that some lenders are going up to 90% now. I'm hoping my application is strengthened by the fact that the rent i currently pay is 2-3 times the estimated repayments on what I'm looking to borrow.