DVLA Number Plates For Sale By Auction

Are you a cat lover with a few hundred quid to spare? How about a huge Dennis the Menace fan keen to show your appreciation via the medium of your motor?

Well you’re in luck as the DVLA – the body in charge of car registrations in the UK – is holding 2017’s first live auction of registration numbers this week and among the plates on offer are WH15 KER ( yours for a starting price of £700) and BE11 ANO (a mere £400).

The event – which starts on Wednesday – will see a total of 1,500 personalised registrations being auctioned to members of the public.

The registrations on offer have been chosen by DVLA to suit all tastes, styles and budgets and range from plates that reflect names such as EL17 OTT, HA15 RRY and PA14 ULA through to quirkier offerings such as OUR 848Y, OLD 800K and YOU 105E.

And fans of Harry Potter could find themselves spellbound by POT 110N which carries a reserve of £250.

The agency will be aiming to build on the success of its live auction programme in 2016, which raised £25.6 million through five sales – setting a new record for a second consecutive year. Last year, the total sales of personalised registrations by the DVLA surpassed £147m, taking the total amount raised since the sales began in September 1989 to £2.4 billion.

Sales by the agency suggest that interest in personalised plates has soared in recent years with a 150 per cent increase of registered bidders for its live sales since 2011. On average 9,500 customers com[pete for lots per auction.

Adam Griffiths, of DVLA Personalised Registrations, said: “It’s been nearly three months since our last live sale, and I am really excited by our first sale of 2017 where some really great registrations are available to bid for. We have experienced two successive record-breaking years and, when you look through the catalogue at the registrations we have compiled for this sale, I am very hopeful that this success will continue.”

He added: “Bidding in person is by far the most popular way to buy a registration and it is at the auction where you will find the real atmosphere – it’s a great day out and we make the experience as enjoyable and friendly as possible. If you can’t make it to the auction we offer free telephone, internet and absent bidding facilities”.

Just some of the 1,500 personalised registrations included in the forthcoming sale include:

115 A (reserve – £2,500), ABY 641L (£250), AMB 2R (£350), ARO 88IE (£250), AUS 111E (£250), 350 B (£2,500), B111 NDS (£250), B111 NKY (£250), BA11 DGE (£400), BE11 ANO (£400), BOS 551E (£250), BUB 4 (£1,200), 105 C (£2,500), CA17 RLY (£400), 888 CM (£2,200), 8111 D (£2,500), 247 DR (£2,200), 845 E (£2,500), ENS 20 (£1,200), FAS 70 (£1,200), FEZ 488 (£300), 458 FUN (£1,200), 111 G (£2,500), GA13 BBY (£400), GET 81G (£300), GTR 2R (£350), 120 H (£2,500), HGV 81G (£300), HOT 911A (£250), IG 111 (£2,200), 1000 J (£2,500), JOS 55H (£300), KAR 4H (£350), LE66 OTT (£700), 811 LS (£2,500), 500 M (£2,500), MAX 80W (£300), NAZ 5 (£500), NER 111S (£250), 72 O (£2,500), (£400), POT 110N (£250), RO13 BYS (£700), SMY 17H (£300), 801 T (£2,500), 812 TH (£2,200), TW15 TER (£700), UV51 NGH (£700), VAZ 110 (£300), W42 DLE (£250), W166 LES (£250), WH15 KER (£700), 222 X (£2,500).

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

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