DVLA number plates are personalised UK vehicle registrations originally issued by the DVLA. Yellowhite is a DVLA-recognised reseller, not the DVLA itself, which means you can search over 71 million private plates here, including registrations the DVLA's own platform never lists. Prices start from £40 plus VAT and the £80 DVLA assignment fee. Buy online, we handle the DVLA transfer, your plates arrive ready to fit.
DVLA Number Plates for Sale
Plates from £40 plus VAT and the £80 DVLA fee. Search 71 million registrations, we sort the paperwork, your plates arrive ready to fit.
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Buy DVLA number plates from a registered dealer
Plenty of people typing 'DVLA number plates' assume the DVLA is the only legitimate place to buy. It isn't, and that is worth being clear about up front.
Yellowhite is a DVLA-registered supplier of physical number plates and a recognised reseller of DVLA registrations. We work with the DVLA every working day, but we are a private company. We are not part of the DVLA, not affiliated with DVLA Personalised Registrations, and not a government service. Every transfer we manage still goes through the official DVLA assignment process, so the registration on your vehicle ends up just as legitimate as one bought direct from gov.uk.
So why buy through a dealer rather than the DVLA directly? Three honest reasons.
Choice. The DVLA only lists registrations it currently owns. Yellowhite gives you access to over 71 million plates, including thousands of privately-held registrations the DVLA's platform will never show you. If the combination you want is held by another driver, the DVLA cannot sell it to you. We can.
Paperwork. A managed transfer means we handle the assignment with the DVLA on your behalf. We deal with the relevant DVLA documents (V317, V750, V778 and the V5C check) so you do not have to fill in a single form. Full detail of how the assignment works is on our DVLA number plate transfer page.
Plates. We make the road-legal acrylic plates and ship them free, same day in 85% of cases. The DVLA doesn't print plates and you would need to source those separately if you bought direct.
We are rated excellent on independent customer reviews and every order is covered by our transfer guarantee. If the transfer doesn't go through, you don't pay.
How buying a DVLA number plate works.
Four steps from search to fitted, with the DVLA paperwork sorted.
1
Search
Search 71 million DVLA-registered plates by name, initials, numbers or style. Filter by price or age. Results in seconds.
2
Buy
Pay in full or reserve with a small deposit. Total price shown at checkout including VAT and the £80 DVLA fee.
3
We handle the DVLA assignment
We complete the V317 or retention paperwork with the DVLA on your behalf. You don't fill in a single form. Read more on our <a href="/dvla-number-plate-transfer/">DVLA number plate transfer</a> page.
4
Plates arrive ready to fit
Road-legal acrylic or 3mm laser-cut 4D raised letter plates, BS AU 145e compliant, posted free to your door.
DVLA number plates, cherished plates and personalised plates explained
You will see a handful of terms used interchangeably online, and they don't all mean exactly the same thing. Knowing which one you actually want makes the search faster.
DVLA number plates is the umbrella term for any UK vehicle registration the DVLA has issued. Strictly, every legal plate on a British road is a DVLA number plate. In the private-plate market it usually means a registration the DVLA originally sold through its own personalised registrations scheme, now offered for resale.
DVLA private plates and DVLA personalised plates are the same thing. Both describe a registration chosen for its meaning rather than assigned at random when a car is built. Initials, a name, a date, a word, or a number that means something to you.
Cherished number plates are the rarest subset: dateless registrations issued before 1963, with no year identifier on them. Because the DVLA will never issue new ones, they sit at the top of the market and have historically held value better than any other format.
Personal number plates is plain English for the same idea: a registration chosen by you, for you. Same product, friendlier name. If you want to browse from the consumer angle rather than the regulator's, that page is the place to start.
DVLA number plate FAQs.
Straight answers to the questions buyers ask most.
Yes. The DVLA sells personalised registrations through its own auctions and a fixed-price platform on gov.uk. The catch is that the DVLA only offers registrations it currently owns. Most of the UK market, including over 71 million plates held by drivers and dealers, sits outside the DVLA's own platform.
No. Yellowhite is a DVLA-registered supplier of physical number plates and a recognised reseller of DVLA registrations, but it is a private company. We are not the DVLA, not affiliated with DVLA Personalised Registrations, and not a government service. Every transfer we manage still goes through the official DVLA assignment process.
Yellowhite's entry price for a DVLA number plate is £40 plus VAT, plus the fixed £80 DVLA assignment fee. Prices climb from there based on rarity and demand. Cherished dateless plates can run to six figures, but most personalised plates we sell sit between £40 and £500.
The DVLA charges a fixed £80 assignment fee every time a registration is put on a vehicle. It applies whether you buy from the DVLA, from us, or from anywhere else. We include the £80 on our checkout, so the total you pay is the total you see, no surprise charges at the end.
A managed transfer on a current registration normally completes within 7 to 10 working days. Retention transfers, where we move a plate using a V778 certificate, take 3 to 4 weeks because the DVLA processes those by post. We keep you updated through every step.
Almost any car. The single rule is age: a registration cannot make a vehicle appear newer than it actually is. A 2024-dated plate cannot go on a 2018 car, but a dateless cherished plate can be assigned to any age of vehicle. We flag age compatibility at checkout before you buy.
Find your DVLA number plate.
Browse 71 million DVLA-registered plates from £40 plus VAT and the £80 DVLA fee. Transfer sorted.
Browse DVLA number plates for sale