I am currently thinking about getting a tortoise for the first time. I only live in a small 1bedroom house so no space for an indoor enviroment. Can a tortoise be kept outdoors all the time with a shelter for them?

Hi and welcome
Yes they can be kept outside if you have a shelter with a heat source so that they can warm if needed. Adults can maintain the heat for longer but hatchlings loose heat very quickly due to their size. What age was you thinking of getting?
Jane

I was thinking of about a 2 or 3 year old ? If they are outside would a rabbit hutch with a cermatic heater be okay (with a large outdoor space)? Altso what type would be best for a first time tortoise keeper?

The best tortoises for our climate is a Hermans, Horsfield ot Ibera. Each have their own characters so have a read about each one on the care sheets fron the links on the left. I would not have thought that a Rabbit hutch would do as it has open panels, so this would defeat the object of having a heat source in there. What a lot of people use are Dog kennels, a shed or a green houses, depending on the space you have  avialable, and they seen to work very well. I have a shed as I have two Hermans, one 6yr old and the other 25-30yrs old, this works well for us.
You will need to think of some form of indoor enclosure if you are not able to keep the temps up in the outdoor enclosure of ambient temps of 18-22c with a basking temp of 30-32c.
HTH
Jane