'Win flat for £2.50', says owner

Ms Topley was desperate to sell her flat

A woman who has been struggling to sell her north London flat has decided to give it away in a competition.

Victoria Topley, 33, is offering her one-bedroom flat in Finchley to the person who correctly guesses its value.

It costs £2.50 to enter the contest on a specially set-up website and people can enter as many times as they want.

Ms Topley hopes to raise enough money from the bids to pay off her mortgage and put down a deposit on her new "dream home" in Berkhamsted, Herts.

If she does not receive enough entries to cover the market value of the property, the winner will instead receive 50% of the total raised in the contest.

We couldn't afford to wait and we both felt we needed to do something a bit more proactive Victoria Topley, seller

Ms Topley took the unusual step after an offer she and her partner put in for a property in Berkhamsted was turned down because she had not yet sold her flat.

"We couldn't afford to wait and we both felt we needed to do something a bit more proactive to put us in a position for our offer to be taken seriously," she said.

A local estate agent has made a secret valuation of the flat, which is currently being held by Ms Topley's solicitor in a sealed envelope.

Ms Topley said neither she nor her partner know what the valuation is. The competition closes on 1 February.