The Statutory Residence Test, codified in Schedule 45 of Finance Act 2013, decides whether an individual is UK-resident for a given tax year. For a landlord planning departure, the SRT outcome is the gate that controls everything downstream: whether the NRL scheme applies to rental income, whether disposals fall into the non-resident CGT regime, whether the 2% SDLT non-resident surcharge bites on future purchases, and whether the temporary non-residence recapture in section 10A TCGA 1992 catches a return within 5 years. Getting the SRT wrong is the most expensive landlord-tax mistake in the expat playbook.
This page walks the decision tree in the order the statute applies it: day counting first, then automatic overseas tests, then automatic UK tests, then sufficient ties. It is the upstream "which regime applies" test for our descriptive UK property income for expats pillar and the analysis step inside the 12-month pre-departure checklist. Three anonymised landlord scenarios run through the tree to show how the same statutory cascade produces different outcomes:
- Imran, single landlord, two BTL flats in Leeds, starts a Singapore contract on 6 June 2026 and plans to return in two years.
- The Henderson family, four-BTL Bristol portfolio plus one retained UK home, planning an 18-month overseas posting to Frankfurt with the children.
- Joelle, retired landlord with three UK rental properties, splits her time between Portugal and the UK visiting family.
How to use this decision tree
The SRT is applied in a fixed statutory order. You stop at the first conclusive answer; you do not get to pick. The order is:
- Establish your UK day count for the tax year, using the day-counting and deeming rules.
- Apply the three automatic overseas tests. If any one applies, you are non-UK-resident; stop.
- Apply the three automatic UK tests. If any one applies (and no automatic overseas test applied), you are UK-resident; stop.
- Apply the sufficient ties test. The number of UK ties you have, combined with your UK day count, decides residence.
That sequence matters. A landlord who has both a UK family tie (making them tie-resident under sufficient ties) and full-time overseas work that meets the third automatic overseas test will be non-resident, because the automatic overseas tests are applied first. Sequencing is the most common error in self-administered SRT analysis.
Step 1: Count UK days correctly
A UK day is a day on which you are in the UK at the end of the day (midnight at the 24-hour rollover into the next calendar day). Two deeming rules can adjust the count:
Transit days
A day where you arrive in the UK and depart by the next day without engaging in non-transit activities is excluded. The classic example: landing at Heathrow at 22:00 and catching an onward flight at 07:00 the next morning, never leaving the airport for personal reasons. If you left the airport to attend a meeting, or even to visit family, the transit relief is lost and the day counts as a UK day.
Exceptional circumstances
Days you would otherwise have left the UK on, but could not because of exceptional circumstances beyond your control, do not count, capped at 60 days per tax year. Standard examples: sudden serious illness requiring hospital admission, urgent family bereavement, natural disaster, certain COVID-19 travel restrictions for 2020-22. Routine illness, wanting to extend a visit, or business pressures do not qualify.
The deeming rule (FA 2013 Sch 45 para 23)
Where you have at least 3 UK ties, have been UK-resident in at least one of the previous 3 tax years, and spent more than 30 days in the UK during the year on which you departed before midnight, the excess days over 30 are deemed UK days. This catches the "land at 7am, leave at 11pm, count zero days" pattern. For most landlord clients the deeming rule is rarely triggered, but check it if you have a high count of sub-midnight days.
Step 2: The three automatic overseas tests
Meeting any one of these makes you automatically non-UK-resident for the year. They are applied in the order set out below.
Automatic overseas test 1: under 16 UK days (UK-resident in any of the prior 3 years)
You were UK-resident for at least one of the 3 preceding tax years AND spent fewer than 16 days in the UK during the current year. This is the cleanest exit test for a landlord whose family follow them overseas immediately and who does not plan UK visits in the first year.
Automatic overseas test 2: under 46 UK days (not UK-resident in any of the prior 3 years)
You were not UK-resident for any of the 3 preceding tax years AND spent fewer than 46 days in the UK during the current year. Relevant for landlords returning after a long absence, or who have been UK-resident for very short prior periods.
Automatic overseas test 3: full-time overseas work
The most-claimed automatic overseas test in landlord-emigrant cases. All conditions:
- You work overseas full-time during the year. Full-time is interpreted via a 35-hour average over a 365-day reference period.
- No significant break from overseas work. A significant break is a period of 31 consecutive days during which you did not work for 3+ hours overseas, with carve-outs for annual leave, sick leave, and parenting leave.
- 30 or fewer UK workdays in the year. A UK workday is a day you worked for 3 or more hours in the UK.
- 90 or fewer UK days in the year in total.
Imran's analysis for 2026/27. Singapore contract starts 6 June 2026. From 6 April to 5 June, he is in the UK winding down, so by departure he has accumulated approximately 60 UK days. Once in Singapore he is on a 40-hour week with three planned trips back to the UK (each 7 days, two of them working). On the calendar:
- Total UK days for the year: 60 (pre-departure) + 21 (three return trips) = 81. Within the 90-day cap.
- UK workdays during return trips: 2 trips x 5 working days = 10 workdays. Within the 30-day cap.
- Full-time overseas work from 6 June onward, no breaks above 31 consecutive non-working days.
Imran meets the third automatic overseas test for 2026/27 and is therefore non-UK-resident for the full year. Split-year Case 1 would then carve out the pre-departure portion as UK-resident.
Step 3: The three automatic UK tests
If no automatic overseas test was met, apply the automatic UK tests. Meeting any one makes you automatically UK-resident for the year.
Automatic UK test 1: 183+ UK days
Hard threshold. Spend 183 or more days in the UK in the tax year and you are UK-resident. No mitigation, no overrides.
Automatic UK test 2: only home in UK
This is the test that catches the largest number of departing landlords. You meet it where:
- You had a home in the UK for at least one continuous 91-day period during the year, of which at least 30 days fell within the tax year.
- During that 91-day period you had no home overseas, OR you had homes overseas in each of which you spent fewer than 30 days in the year.
The trap: "home" is broader than tenure. A property is your home for SRT purposes if it is somewhere you actually live (or could readily live) when you are there, with sufficient permanence to make it more than a temporary stay. Keeping the old main residence furnished, with personal belongings, available for your use whenever you visit, will keep it as a UK home even if you only spend a few weeks a year there. Letting the property to a tenant on an arm's-length tenancy removes it from your homes (the tenant has the use, not you). Storing furniture in it does not.
Automatic UK test 3: full-time UK work
Mirror of the overseas full-time test: 35-hour average over a 365-day period with at least 75% of those workdays in the UK and 365 days falling within the tax year. Rare for landlord-emigrant cases but relevant for inbound moves.
Step 4: The sufficient ties test
If no automatic test resolved residence, the sufficient ties test decides. Count your UK ties, then check the day-band table.
The five UK ties
| Tie | You have it if |
|---|---|
| Family tie | Your spouse, civil partner, cohabiting partner, or minor child is UK-resident for the year. Spouses separated and living separately do not count. |
| Accommodation tie | You have a place to live available to you in the UK for a continuous period of 91 days or more during the year, AND you spend at least one night there (16 nights if the place is owned by a close family member and not maintained by you). |
| Work tie | You do at least 40 UK workdays in the year, where a workday is 3+ hours of work. |
| 90-day tie | You spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the 2 preceding tax years. |
| Country tie | You spent more midnights in the UK than in any other single country during the year. Applies only to leavers (people UK-resident in any of the 3 preceding years). |
The day-band tables
Leavers (UK-resident in any of the 3 preceding tax years):
| UK days in the year | Ties needed to be UK-resident |
|---|---|
| 16 to 45 days | 4 (all four non-country ties, plus the country tie since they have all five) |
| 46 to 90 days | 3 |
| 91 to 120 days | 2 |
| 121 to 182 days | 1 |
Arrivers (not UK-resident in any of the 3 preceding tax years):
| UK days in the year | Ties needed to be UK-resident |
|---|---|
| 46 to 90 days | 4 |
| 91 to 120 days | 3 |
| 121 to 182 days | 2 |
Arrivers cannot become UK-resident with fewer than 46 days, and the country tie does not apply to them (they have no preceding-year baseline). Both tables put 183+ days into automatic UK residence under the first automatic UK test, which is why the sufficient ties table caps at 182.
The Henderson scenario
The Henderson family (parents plus two minor children) move to Frankfurt in October 2026 on an 18-month posting. They keep their Bristol home (no tenant; furnished; available to them); the children remain at their UK schools for the autumn term then move; one parent makes weekly UK trips to the Bristol office through to March 2027 (around 110 UK days for the year including these trips).
SRT analysis for 2026/27:
- UK days: 110. No automatic overseas test passes (over 16, over 46, and full-time overseas work is broken by 40+ UK workdays during the autumn).
- Automatic UK tests: 183 not met; only-home test possibly met (Bristol home remains a home through October, with overseas home from October onwards but UK days from April through October consume the only-home window), analysis is close, and very fact-specific.
- If not caught by only-home: sufficient ties. Hendersons have family tie (children UK-resident through summer term), accommodation tie (Bristol home available), work tie (40+ workdays), 90-day tie (clearly), country tie (more UK midnights than any other single country for the year as a whole). Five ties.
- At 110 UK days as a leaver, needing 2 ties to be UK-resident. Five ties is more than enough; UK-resident for 2026/27.
The fix: let the Bristol home to a tenant on an AST starting in October when the family departs, terminate the children's UK schooling cleanly, and drop the weekly UK trips. Doing all three brings UK days down to roughly 60 and removes accommodation, work, and probably country ties. With family tie and 90-day tie remaining (2 ties) at 60 UK days as a leaver, no UK residence (the 46-90 day band needs 3 ties).
The "only home" trap (deep dive)
The single biggest landlord-SRT mistake is misreading what counts as a UK home. A worked test:
- Is the property used as a residence (sleeping, eating, storing personal items) with some permanence? If yes, it is a home.
- Is it merely available for occasional use, with no sufficient permanence to be lived in? If so, it is not a home.
- Is it let to a tenant on an arm's-length tenancy? It is not a home (the tenant has the use).
- Is it kept furnished and available "for when you visit"? It is a home, regardless of how few nights you spend there.
The HMRC RDR3 guidance and the Tax Manuals develop this with worked examples. The pragmatic rule for a departing landlord: either let the property to a tenant or sell it. "Mothballed but ours" is the worst position.
Exceptional circumstances cap
The 60-day cap on excludable days is rigid. A landlord stuck in the UK because of a long illness lasting from January to August has 130-or-so additional UK days, but only 60 can be removed from the day count. This caps the relief on long-absence cases. Two practical points:
- Document the circumstances contemporaneously. HMRC will accept a clear medical record or travel-restriction notice; they will not accept retrospective explanations.
- The cap is per tax year, not per event. A single illness lasting 4 months gets 60 days of relief, but 60 + 60 over two consecutive tax years is allowed.
Worked decision-tree walkthroughs
Imran (single landlord, Singapore contract)
Year 1 (2026/27): 81 UK days, full-time overseas work from June, 10 UK workdays during return trips. Third automatic overseas test passes. Non-UK-resident. Split-year Case 1 carves out the pre-6-June period.
Year 2 (2027/28): 28 UK days (one 4-week summer trip), full-time overseas work continues, 0 UK workdays. Third automatic overseas test passes. Non-UK-resident.
The Hendersons (post-fix, 18-month Frankfurt posting)
Year 1 (2026/27): 60 UK days (post-fix), Bristol let from October, 2 UK ties (family for first 6 months until children fully move; 90-day for prior years). 46-90 day band as leaver, need 3 ties, have 2. Non-UK-resident. Split-year Case 1 carves out the post-October portion (full-time overseas work for one parent satisfies Case 1).
Year 2 (2027/28): 25 UK days, 1 tie (90-day, since accommodation gone, no work, family fully moved). 16-45 day band as leaver, need 4 ties, have 1. Non-UK-resident.
Joelle (retiree splitting time UK and Portugal)
Joelle is UK-resident in 1 of the 3 preceding years (last year, before her move to Portugal). UK days for 2026/27: 145 (split over five visits totaling roughly 5 months). UK ties:
- Family tie: adult children only (not minor), so no family tie.
- Accommodation tie: she stays with her brother in Bristol whenever in the UK; available for 91+ days, more than 16 nights spent there. Tie applies.
- Work tie: retired, no UK workdays. No tie.
- 90-day tie: 145 UK days last year. Tie applies.
- Country tie: 145 UK days vs around 200 Portuguese days. Portugal has more midnights. No tie for the country tie.
Two ties. At 145 UK days as a leaver, the 121-182 band needs 1 tie to be UK-resident. Joelle has 2 ties; UK-resident for 2026/27. Fix: reduce UK days below 121 (drops her into the 91-120 band, which needs 2 ties, so she stays UK-resident at 2 ties), or reduce to below 91 days (the 46-90 band needs 3 ties, and she has only 2; non-UK-resident). The cleanest fix is to plan to fewer than 91 UK days per year.
What the SRT does not decide
The SRT decides UK residence for income tax, capital gains tax, and the NRL scheme. It does not decide:
- SDLT non-resident surcharge. Schedule 9A FA 2003 uses a different test: under 183 UK days in the 365 days ending on the effective date. Refundable if you accrue 183+ days in the year after. The SDLT test runs on a rolling 12-month basis; the SRT runs on tax years. See our SDLT 2% non-resident surcharge guide for the refund process.
- IHT long-term residence. From 6 April 2025 the IHT test is residence-based: 10 of the previous 20 tax years UK-resident makes you a long-term resident within IHT on worldwide assets. The 10-of-20 test uses the same per-year SRT outcomes but aggregates them differently.
- Domicile. The non-dom regime ended on 6 April 2025; residence-based tests replace it for income tax, CGT, and IHT. Domicile remains relevant for some legacy issues (excluded property trusts settled pre-6-April-2025) but is no longer the gateway test it once was.
- Treaty residence. Where the other country also makes you resident, the relevant double tax treaty's Article 4 tie-breaker (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, mutual agreement) decides which country has primary taxing rights for treaty purposes. Treaty residence does not change UK source taxation, but it affects foreign tax credits and pension lump sum treatment.
Common SRT mistakes for landlords
- Skipping the order of tests. A landlord with overseas full-time work and a UK family tie is non-resident under the automatic overseas test, not UK-resident under sufficient ties. Apply tests in statutory order.
- Treating "home" as "owned". An owned-but-let property is not a home for SRT purposes. An unowned-but-available family room is.
- Forgetting transit days. A landlord who books overnight transit flights can lose 5 to 10 UK days from the count, enough to drop into a lower day-band.
- Ignoring the deeming rule. Sub-midnight days are not always zero days. Check para 23 of Sch 45 if you have 30+ days where you arrived in the morning and departed by night.
- Counting workdays wrongly. A workday is 3+ hours of work. Half a working day (less than 3 hours) does not count toward either the workday cap (third automatic overseas test) or the work tie threshold.
- Misapplying the country tie. Country tie applies only to leavers. Arrivers do not have it; the arriver day-bands are calibrated accordingly.
- Confusing SRT with the SDLT non-resident test. Different test, different purpose, different timeframe. Apply each on its own terms.
- Treating split-year as a substitute for SRT. Split-year is applied after the SRT, only where the SRT makes you UK-resident for the whole year. It is not an alternative test.
What to do next
Run the test for your planned departure year and the year after, against your actual calendar (planned UK trips, working pattern, accommodation arrangements, family movements). If any test outcome is borderline, the move is to redesign the calendar before the year starts, not to argue the test after the year ends. The SA109 supplement on your eventual self-assessment return locks the outcome in; HMRC enquiry into a borderline SRT position can come up to 4 years after filing (longer for prompted or deliberate disclosure cases), so day-count evidence (flight bookings, calendar exports, contemporaneous work logs) needs to be kept for the long term.
If your year falls into sufficient ties rather than an automatic test, that is a signal to look harder at the calendar. Sufficient ties is the fallback; an automatic test is the safe harbour.