This is interesting, to use the SS route you might have to wait up to a year in another EU country but if you go out of the UK for 3 months or more the gov says your not a 'habitual resident'
British citizens travelling or studying abroad for more than three months are being refused benefits on their return under new rules designed to crackdown on benefit tourism from eastern Europe.
read more here .. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2...residency-test