First and foremost, I would recommend contacting the DVLA directly to find out the residency requirements to apply for a licence instead of relying on the advice of strangers on an Internet bulletin board. We try to be helpful, but we aren't government employees.

A quick look on the DVLA website shows the following:

Rules for exchange

The following conditions must be met before a licence can be granted in exchange for a GB one:

* you must be normally resident in GB and have a permanent address here
* if you are a community driving licence holder applying for a British test at the same time as exchanging your licence and you have moved to GB having recently been permanently resident in another state of the EC or EEA, you must have been normally resident in GB for 185 days in the 12 months prior to your application for a full driving licence
* licences from the designated countries must be current at the time the application for exchange is received at DVLA: licences from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands are acceptable for exchange if issued after 01/04/91.Those issued in any EC or EEA country may be valid for exchange even if they have expired
* you must surrender your foreign licence which will be returned to the issuing authority
* international driving permits are not exchangeable
etc.