TFC06100 | Residence rules: ordinarily resident in the UK

Childcare Payments (Eligibility) Regulations 2015, regulation 7(1)(a)

A person who is ordinarily resident in the UK is treated as being in the UK for the purposes of TFC. This is a person who normally lives in the UK (apart from temporary or occasional absences), and their residence here is voluntary and part of the regular order of their life for the time being. Decisions about whether a person is ordinarily resident are based on all the circumstances of the case. (See TFC06350 Temporary absence from the UK – general rules)

‘Living’ in the UK is not defined in the regulations and as such should be given its ordinary everyday meaning. The New Oxford English Dictionary says that to ‘live’ somewhere means to ‘make one’s home in a particular place’. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary says that ‘living’ means dwelling in a specified place.

A person can be ordinarily resident in more than one country. A person can have a home in another country and be ordinarily resident in the UK. If a person lives in the UK year after year, they should be treated as ordinarily resident here.