Primary residence

A person's primary residence, or main residence is the dwelling where they usually live, typically a house or an apartment. A person can only have one primary residence at any given time, though they may share the residence with other people. A primary residence is considered as a legal residence for the purpose of income tax and/or acquiring a mortgage.

Criteria for a primary residence consist mostly of guidelines rather than hard rules, and residential status is often determined on a case-by-case basis.

Use in Urban Planning

The primary residence is the main dwelling unit on a parcel of land. This term distinguishes this unit from a potential secondary suite.

Definition in specific jurisdictions

United Kingdom

If a taxpayer owns a property, but has never lived in it, it cannot be considered their main residence even if it is the only property they own. Furthermore, the court would ask itself, in order to determine whether the property is their main main residence, whether a reasonable person would consider the property their home in light of all the facts surrounding the case.

A ship cannot be considered a residence, and the property on land that a person returns to after being at sea would be considered his main residence.

If a person if forced away from the property that would ordinarily be called 'home' due to employment, but still occasionally return to that property, then it is still calssed as your main residence. In Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council v Stark , Mr Stark, an RAF serviceman, only returned to his matrimonial home when on leave. Mrs Stark attempted to obtain a 25% single person's discount but was, successfully, refused due to the property being considered Mr Stark's main residence also. This was decided because the property was where Mr Stark would live if not for the demands of his work.

See also

• Residency
• Tax residence
• Legal residence

External links

• Primary Place of Residence as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency