Hell of being trapped in an unsellable flat: No viewings, plunging prices and hollow promises have wrecked the market. Now owner Helen reveals the terrible consequences - and says 'it feels like a noose around our necks'

Being crammed into a studio flat I bought seven years ago isn't how I imagined starting family life, says 34-year-old chef Helen. What she'd seen as an investment was now a millstone round her neck.