A Couple Hid A Big Secret Behind This Garage Door – Until The Authorities Discovered Their Scheme

Couple hid a big secret behind this garage door until the authorities discovered their scheme. Wherever there are rules, there are people using creative ways to break or at least bend them. This applies to real estate and planning regulations as much as anything else. For some, doing what they want on their own property, away from the prying eyes of authorities, is worth the risk of prosecution. Up until recently, the English homestead of Rita Herzala and Hamdi Almasri featured the most amazing hidden feature, until it was discovered by the local council. Rita Herzala, age 37, and her husband, Hamdi Almasri, 39, both work as doctors. The couple live in the small town of Enderby in the county of Leicester, central England, UK. Their home is a large two-story brick house that fronts onto a busy highway in the county district of Blaby. Part of their property is a one-car garage. The small structure would originally not be much to look at. However, Herzala and Almasri have had some work done on the garage and now it's extraordinary. So much so that the humble space that used to house their car has gone viral in a huge and unexpected way. The couple's home is part of a development that was originally built in 2007. At the time, a planning condition was made with the developers that a specified area of each home's grounds be set aside for a vehicle to be placed. In addition, all properties were to feature a dedicated garage. These measures were a bid to avoid access problems associated with excess on-street parking. However, in October 2015, Blaby District Council received reports that a pair of residents were in breach of those regulations. On investigation, council officials found that an enterprising Herzala and Almasri had erected tall fencing which prevented cars from parking in designated areas. More seriously, they had also put in an illegal access road which led directly from their property onto the busy highway. Furthermore, was what the couple had put in the tall fences to hide. Unbelievably, they had effectively converted their garage into compact living quarters. But crucially, said garage formed another requisite parking area and none of these alterations had been legally approved. Make no mistake, planning permission is taken very seriously in the UK. No building developments which are seen as damaging to the local neighbourhood or an inconvenience to the public are allowed. If it is decided an unplanned property is in breach of their permissions, the local council can legally enforce changes. The real estate owner can appeal, but if they are unsuccessful, they must comply with the authorities or face prosecution. In July 2016, Herzala and Almasri made an after-the-fact planning proposal to the district council in a bid to retain the changes to their Enderby property. The couple's application was refused. The doctors tried again in February 2017, appealing to a higher body, the National Planning Inspectorate of England and Wales, but were knocked back again. Halfway through the same year, Herzala and Almasri looked like they were going to comply with the law when they took down the illegal fencing. However, when officials travelled to Enderby for a follow-up inspection, they found a large door leaned up across the front of the garage. Imagine their surprise when they looked behind it to see a smaller door and windows. The small structure was still being used as a tiny home. The council believed an employee of the doctors lived in the converted garage, and in November 2017, they initiated legal procedures against the couple. Among other things, Councillor Sheila Scott is in charge of In a press release published in early February 2018, Scott said, Indeed, on February 7, 2018, a hearing on the matter was held at the nearby Leicester Magistrates' Court. Herzala and Almasri did not attend the proceedings, in the couple's absence, they were fined the UK equivalent of just over $1,000. They were also ordered to pay legal costs of some $1,700 and a victim surcharge of about $107. Since the report about Herzala and Almasri converting their garage into a tiny, clandestine cottage came out, the story has gone viral online and has racked up many newspaper columnages. The exposure prompted Herzala to make a public Facebook post on February 13, 2018, about what she alleges is false information and vilification being spread by old and new media alike. Sadly, Herzala detected racial prejudice behind a lot of the press reporting. She wrote, She continued, Furthermore, the Facebook post denied that the doctor duo had turned the garage into a separate home for rent by an employee or, indeed, anyone else. This was a simple single-garage conversion into a small garden annex in the house that we own on land that we own. It cannot be called a separate house in any stretch of imagination, Herzala claimed. We had no intention of breaking any laws. Moreover, Herzala went on to say that the contractor the couple had taken on to complete the conversion had advised them that their modifications were permissible. They are now engaged in a dispute with this contractor over returning the property to its original condition. The doctor also added that the garage door had only been leaned against the front of the structure to await installation, not to hide their tiny second home. I suggest some respect to the reader's intelligence at least would have been nice, she summed up by addressing the haters directly. I also suggest that before you try to attack a law-abiding, hard-working couple who have been misled by the council and builders, get both sides of the story. Looking through the online comments that readers have left on articles about the dispute, it's clear that some side with the doctors. On the other hand, of course, not everyone sees it that way. A reader of the online version of the tabloid Daily Mail wrote, If it was a separate dwelling, would it have been subject to council tax, water rates, house insurance, and if so, would these have been paid? If it was just an extension, why be deceitful about it? But this is not the first time property owners in central England have tried to outsmart the authorities of late. In 2008, Roy and Gail Coles built a concealed cottage on their land in Lickfield, Stratfordshire. They rented out the main house on the property and decamped to their secret structure. The hidden two-bedroom house was accessed by a private road, and the exterior was made to look like a barn. The luxury dwelling, complete with camouflaged roof and shutters to hide doors and windows, stayed hidden for eight years. Twice, in 2008 and 2012, the local authorities inspected the Coles grounds. Officers from Lickfield District Council missed the disguised home both times. Finally, the house was uncovered when someone tipped off the council. Sadly for the Coles, they were ordered to demolish the illegal piece of real estate. However, perhaps the most ambitious plan to hide a house in the UK was hatched in the south of England. Amazingly, Robert Fidler of Salford's Village in Surrey actually built a four-bedroom castle on his farmland between 1999 and 2006. He managed to keep the structure hidden from prying eyes beneath bales of hay. Fidler had hoped that after the building had stood for four years without public complaint, it would become legal under a statute of limitations. However, after a lengthy court battle, Fidler was ordered to demolish it in 2015. As we have seen, Herzala and El-Masri's venture was modest by comparison. Nevertheless, the doctors have been given until the middle of March 2018 to remedy the situation. Despite their protests, they are still required to restore their property to regulation spec. And no doubt representatives of Blavy District Council will call round soon after to confirm that the Enderby Garage now houses a car and is not home to a little secret.