I am certainly sure of the 183 days in some areas but not as long in others as @EmilyA has experienced.
Classed as s a non resident, when we bought our house in the Uk in January this year, having sold our french home in December, we were required to pay a 2% surcharge on stamp duty on rhe new house.
This can be reclaimed only after being resident for 183 days to confirm uk residency.
So in this situation, we are not uk residents until 183 days have past.
Another situation I am pondering over is my driving licence.
According to this Driving in Great Britain on a non-GB licence - GOV.UK at my age of 72, I don’t need to exchange my French (EU) licence for 3 years from the date I became resident in the UK. Assuming my residency start date is the same as the government stamp duty department dictate then that will be in June this year.
Fast forward 3 years to June 2029 when I have to exchange my license, at that time I will be just 8 months from being 76 years old.
The rule here is that once turned 70 a driving licence must be renewed every 3 years subject to completing a self assessment health form. I am currently (in my opinion) fit to drive and hope to continue for some years yet and from the uk government guidance I can continue to do so for almost 6 years while my fellow uk drivers of a similar age will have had to renew their licence twice already.
The government stamp duty refund calculator requires you to have been in the UK for 183 days continously regardless if that period falls within the same tax year.
There simply isnt a rule of one size fits all, more so the residency rules seem to revolve around the government getting your taxes as soon as possible and where there is an opportunity to reclaim them the same government make sure they hold on to that refund for as long as possible, different country, same type of financial governance.
Yes, after 18 years residency in France, our credit rating no longer exists in the UK. It might have been different if Barclays Bank had not closed our credit card account around 4 years ago but we have found it easy to start rebuilding our ceedit score.
Apon arrival we updated our address details with our bank, and with our new uk address we both applied for a credit card via our banking app and 10 days later we each had a credit card with a 4k limit.
We now use them on a daily basis and pay the balance by the due date so our credit score is building up.
Capital One readily gave us a cedit card each with an £800 limit which we use in the same way.
Amazon offer a credit card which is linked to Barclays bank.
We applied for this card and were aporoved, even better, we were asked to apply for a Barclays debit account which again was approved.
We use all the newly acquired credit cards and as already stated, make sure the balance is paid by the due date. Our credit rating must be improving.
We are renting so are not in the same position as JohnBoy.
I exchanged my driving licence straight away and it was back in three weeks. Very useful for ID as it has our address on it. The bus passes were back in 10 days.
Oh and start the process for getting a No Claims Bonus early. Mine took two months to arrive from the French insurance company and the first year’s car insurance here has cost £1,000. Chat GPT was very helpful and recommended a broker that specialises in people from overseas, they have provided excellent service.
Sorry, that post should have been a general reply, not just to JohnBoy..
Thank you @JohnBoy and @EmilyA, this is just what I need and is very useful. Much appreciated.
I’ve realised that starting to tell officialdom we are moving back to the UK is making me quite nervous.
Fingers crossed, we already in the UK credit system enough for our needs, having kept our UK bank accounts and I’ve managed to keep my Barclaycard through the time we’ve been in France. I was amazed when buying furniture and stuff for the house early in the year, expecting at any moment to have my HSBC debit card refused and there was never a problem.
I’m wondering under what circumstances a low/no credit score might be an issue for us?
And also under what circumstances we would need an ID with an address? We’ve already got all the utilities and council tax sorted out on the house, so our address is in the system. Hopefully that’s enough?
Well there sort of is, just that it applies differently to different aspects of life. The stamp duty refund will show that you have been resident since day1, but you are required to go through this palaver to evidence it. The June date from when you can claim refund is the when you have been resident for 183 days surely?
After all I think you said you signed on with a GP straight away? And the access to NHS is residence based.
I’m trying to think where we needed ID proof of address and can’t think of anything other than what you’ve already done Sue, it’s surprisingly easier than you think, I guess if you open a new bank account you would need it but that’s about it.
We needed ID to vote! We had kept our UK bank account open all the time we were in France, but it made no difference. I have a stupid mobile account that won’t let me phone France! Our local branch of the NatWest have been brilliantly helpful with everything.
Exactly…for different taxes different criteria - whatever works best I suspect for hmrc.
With income tax if you demonstrate a definitive move in terms of days spent (likely over 90…best over 183) and shut down your foyer in france ( no cpam, no doctor, no internet) then you will likely be resident in the uk from that tax year ie back to 6 April - as they will change all your tax codes in due course or send a bill.
There is a scheme called split year but its a bit complex and doesnt work well if at all if you are retired as its designed around definitive moves with a house sale and/or employment.
I would really have a chat with your notaire first about the likely french gains costs of doing this though as this is where you could face a large unpleasant surprise depending on your selling price vs your purchase price plus 15%. Face to face or video chat not emails…
Why not just stay resident in France until you’ve sold the French house, ie signed the acte de vente? Or is it that you would like to continue using the French house purely as a holiday home for a while?
We’re planning to move back to the UK at some point in our 70s. Like you, we already have a house there (currently rented out). When the time comes, we won’t be informing the Fisc or any other authorities about our move until the French flat sale is done and dusted because I want to make sure it’s treated as a sale of our primary residence.
I agree. We need to have our French place considered as our primary residence right to the end. Made complicated by the fact that we bought a farmhouse and a ruin with no roof. We will be selling a farmhouse and a cottage/gite.
And no, we won’t be using France as a second home. We realise that time has come and gone and our life will just be in Chichester.
At the moment I’m just gathering information - we haven’t even invited any estate agents in yet.
All of this is very useful for me as it helps me plan, which I couldn’t do on my own (I am NOT a planner).
Does anyone know whether we can register with a GP in the UK whilst still resident in France? We both have a couple of major health issues and if we are to spend more time in the UK I’d like to feel we have some form of support. If not, then Chichester has a Nuffield hospital, I guess I could enquire about private cover for a time?
Yes you can using your UK address.
I don’t know how joined up it is, but I guess once you have done and used the Transfer of Residence process for HMRC you have definitively changed residence. If you don’t need to take anything back then It might be different. Our stuff went in the removal van and our TOR inventory could have been checked against their inventory.
We went back through the tunnel and French customs asked to see our residence cards as there was no outward stamp in our passports. UK customs just waved us through.
Yes and the UK is particularly generous in days you can be there but not count as UK days.
For a day to count you must be in the UK from 00:01 to 2359 inclusive.
If your flight was scheduled to leave by 2359 and even if it’s late and takes off after midnight, it’s the scheduled departure time that counts.
In France, if at any point in your day you are in France that whole day counts as a day in France.
I wonder if that is a bonus as France is so wonderful, or handy if that is all you can stand of the place. I know my choice. 
This from NHS site
“You can register with a GP surgery as a temporary patient for up to 3 months.
You’ll need to fill out a temporary services form, which you can get from GP surgeries.
You may want to do this if you’re living away from home but do not want to change your GP surgery permanently, or if you’re visiting from abroad.
After 3 months, you can re-apply as a temporary patient, or apply to register as a permanent patient.
If your application for temporary registration is refused, you can still receive any treatment you need immediately for up to 14 days.”
If you want to keep France as permanent home for tax purposes prob best to be registered as temporary in UK just in case anyone ever tries to join up the dots.
And when you’re doing the TOR, don’t forget to include the car! It’s a nightmare otherwise, especially if you need to re-register it.
My question would be, why are you leaving France after 19 years? Having been forced to move back to the UK after my husband’s death, I can assure you France is Paradise compared to the UK. Filthy dirty, pot-holed roads, health, even private, is dire to non-existant, extremely rude people, especially to older people, vets bills are beyond astronomical (we had 10 cats who are still living in France with a friend and I pay for their upkeep). Unless it is for tax (?) reasons, I can see zero benefits of moving back to the uk. Plus the wine is astronomically price and dire. Most food is awful, especially bread, vegetables and fruit. There is no up-side that I have been able to discern.
Hi JJJ_JJJ, my sympathies are with you that you’ve had to leave France for an unwanted return to the UK.
I gather in tbe UK sone things may depend where you are so it sounds like where you’ve returned to may not be ideal.
On the reasons for someone actually wanting to return to tbe UK, if you start at the top of the thread they become clear. At least 2 other of the posters, JohnBoy and Tim17, have also recently made the move back.