Residence or fine home within the outskirts of Dorking (8)
I believe the answer is:
dwelling
'residence' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'fine home within the outskirts of dorking' is the wordplay.
'fine' becomes 'well' ('well' can be similar in meaning to 'fine'**).
'home' becomes 'in' ('he's home' can mean 'he's in').
'within' indicates putting letters inside.
'the outskirts of' suggests removing the centre.
'dorking' with its middle removed is 'dg'.
'well'+'in'='wellin'
'wellin' placed within 'dg' is 'DWELLING'.
'or' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dwelling that I've seen before include "Domicile" , "Home" , "Place of residence" , "lodge" , "Habitation" .)