Inside the house Osama called home

Knowing that he would be hidden away for so long, it appears the friends of Osama bin Laden tried to ensure he had as much space as he could.

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Plans for the property built to house Bin Laden and obtained yesterday reveal an eight-bedroom house with seven bathrooms. The builder also added a second floor – in defiance of local regulations – and it was there that Bin Laden is believed to have been killed. "There are many rules and regulations," said Asif Amir Khan, chief executive officer of the Abbottabad Cantonment Board, pointing to a 4in-thick book of bylaws dating from 1924.

The file held by the board shows that plans for the house were filed in the summer of 2004 by the man known as Arshad Khan, who is thought to have been Bin Laden's courier. It is thought the house was completed by September 2005. The file also shows that no property tax was ever paid.

The file says the house had a "flush system" and a drainage tank. The official address on file is: House No 3, Street No 8-A, Garga Road, Thanda Chowa, Hashmi Colony, Abbottabad.

The architects for the plans were Modern Associates. One of the owners, Junaid Younis, said his father, Mohammad, had liaised with Arshad Khan through a property agent.