Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Sole or Main Residence

There is no legal definition of sole or main residence, the principles for determination are those that were established under community charge and in subsequent case law.

The following factors should be considered:-

• ‘Sole or main residence’ implies that the resident has to actually live in the dwelling
• If a person has never lived in the dwelling in question, it cannot be their ‘sole or main residence’.
• Not everyone has a sole or main residence
• residence implies a degree of permanence – security of tenure might have a bearing, but is not conclusive;
• temporary presence at an address does not make a person resident there;
• temporary absence does not deprive a person of residence, for example in the case of a mariner;
• the lawfulness or otherwise of any home is irrelevant in considering whether that place is the individual’s residence;
• in determining whether a person not present at a given place is legally resident there, it is relevant to ascertain whether that person intends to return, and whether or not he or she could return without breach of any public or private obligation.