Owning a property but not living in it

How long can I stay away from my house and still call it my home? I suspect the "capital disregard" rules are the same for Income Support as for ESA, so this is on topic.

I received Incapacity Benefit in 2005. However I got Income Support because I had not paid enough National Insurance. (A few weeks ago I was sent a form to assess me for ESA.)

In early 2010 I became extremely ill and moved to another town where I stayed with my family who took me to doctors and looked after me during the daytime.

The DWP say that they have decided I have permanently moved home in Jan 2012. What are the rules regarding which location is defined as my home?

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Here are some details:

I lived on my own and owned my flat outright. I took only few possessions and left the vast majority of what I own in my flat. I have kept gas and electricty going. It is not inhabited by anyone else. It is fully furnished. I visit it approximately every month to see it is ok and as it is some distance away I stay there for a day or two. I disconnected the phone off but otherwise everything else is in working order and it is fully habitable.

Surely it is still my home?

While staying with my family I was intially diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia but after 18 months the diagnosis was withdrawn and we looked for other causes for my severe states of confusion. I had approx 50 medical consultations. In May 2012 we think we found the cause of my illness to be toxic side effects from a medication I was taking. I will need another about 6 to 18 months to recover before I can live on my own in my house. I changed GP to one in the town my family were in in order to get referrals to local hospitals.

Can I still claim my house is my home or am I deemed to have moved home?

Thank you for any information!

Finni