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The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has released more than 150,000 new personalised registration numbers, in a unique opportunity for number plate enthusiasts to acquire a unique number plate.
Prefix style registration numbers are priced at a fixed price only, meaning there will be no bidding wars when the plates go on sale.
Visits began on Tuesday, September 24, and plaques will be available for purchase starting Tuesday, October 1.
The license plates are brand new – they have never been assigned to a vehicle or offered for sale before, making this a unique opportunity for license plate hunters.
Unique opportunity: The new license plates with prefix will go on sale on October 1 and will have a fixed price, so there will be no bidding wars.
Prefix formats are highly desirable as they include a letter from A to H, followed by 25 or 326, a space, and then three more letters. An example of this would be A25 CAR.
New prefixes that can be registered include: A25 CYA, B25 TOM, C26 DAN, D25 OMG, E26 CAT, F25 CBR, F26 ORD, G25 GEM and H25 NRY.
These license plates are sure to be popular with motorists because there is a chance to get a license plate with your name, a funny saying, or a word that has a personal connection to you.
And because these plates are sold at fixed rates, rather than by auction, with prices starting from just £250 (including VAT and the £80 allocation fee), they are much more affordable than private auction plates.
The DVLA runs monthly timed online auctions where bidders can compete for coveted private licence plates.
But since there is no price cap, the cost of the plates can skyrocket.
Prefix license plates were first issued on August 1, 1983 and are the most popular type of plate in the private license plate market.
The DVLA’s top 10 most expensive licence plates of all time all cost more than £150,000 (excluding taxes and fees) and were sold in 1989, the year the agency began auctioning off private licence plates.
The most expensive DVLA registration ever sold was the ’25 O’, which fetched £400,000 (excluding taxes and fees) on 27 November 2014.
You can use the DVLA search facility to search for a word or a combination of numbers and letters. For example, enter your name and the search will provide the closest match.
The DVLA sold these personalised number plates for the highest prices last year
Ahead of the upcoming sale of personalised number plates, Jody Davies, DVLA’s Head of Personalised Number Plates, said: ‘Whether it’s your name, your hobby, your occupation or if you’re a car enthusiast, why not give your vehicle that finishing touch by purchasing a personalised number plate?
‘This exciting upcoming release is a great opportunity to get your perfect registration in the highly sought after prefix style for one fixed price.
‘The vast majority of the 150,000 new numbers are priced at £250 each. There is a huge selection to choose from and, with Christmas just around the corner, you could pick up a bargain for yourself or your loved ones.’
From 10am on Tuesday 1 October, buyers will be able to purchase prefix plates via the DVLA website.
You can use the DVLA search facility to search for a word or a combination of numbers and letters.
Explanation of vehicle registrations:
How number plates are distributed and what the different elements mean (Source: DVLA)
There is a format for DVLA records, which includes information for the DVLA to track a vehicle on their systems.
The first letters indicate the region where the vehicle is registered.
A sequence of randomly generated letters then concludes the end of the number plate, which is how the DVLA identifies the particular car as they are completely unique to each vehicle.
The private license plate market is big business
By 2023, companies operating in the sector valued the UK personalised number plate industry at over £2 billion.
Jon Kirkbright, 45, is the founder of Plate Hunter
A total of 17,823 registrations were sold at DVLA auctions last year, with buyers spending almost £49m (including taxes and fees).
Jon Kirkbright, Sales Director at number plate supplier Platehunter, says: ‘The second-hand number plate market continues to grow from strength to strength and 2024 will be no different.
‘People see that the worst plates sold by the DVLA are selling for the same price they paid for a better one at auction years ago, and so they are now asking double or triple the price for their plates on the second-hand market.’
Platehunter saw a 25 percent increase in revenue during the first 17 days of January compared to last year, and appraisal requests per day increased by 100 over last year.
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