How does the car registration system work in Britain?

In Britain every car has its own assigned registration number which is used for identification and to ensure there is always an accurate database of every vehicle on the road. Twice a year at the beginning of September and March a whole new set of registration plates are introduced for all brand new cars, which means more new models are now available through our car leasing service.

How Does The British Car Registration System Work?

Number plates are arranged in the format of two letters, followed by two numbers, and then three letters. The first two letters are an area code, which refer to the DVLA office where the car was originally registered. The two numbers are an age identifier, which tells you in which 6-month period the car was first registered, and the last three letters are random.

This March has just seen the release of the latest plate number of 14, taking over from the previous plate of 53, and then in September it will change to 54. This system has operated since the first 01 plate was introduced in 2001, and will continue until the end of February 2051 when the plate will be 00.

Because this number is the basis of how old your car is many people choose to wait till the next registration release in order to have a car which is newer and will therefore hold slightly more value when they decide to sell the car on. New car and contract hire companies like us are now seeing a huge resurgence in new car interest, as more people find the expendable income they have been denied over the last few years.

“New car registrations surged 17.7% in March to 464,824 units, a surprisingly strong level of growth and a reflection of intensifying consumer confidence and the availability of great new products,” says Mike Hawes, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders. “Given the past six years of subdued economic performance across the UK, there is still a substantial margin of pent-up demand that is contributing to a strong new and used car market.

One area of the market which is growing the most is car leasing, which is where instead of buying the car you pay a fixed monthly rate over a set amount of time, and then after this period you hand the car back, without the need to worry about selling it or its depreciation costs. Originally from the US, this type of system is catching wind as it allows you to change your car more frequently and have a much newer and more valuable model than you would be able to get through buying.

New 14 Plate Cars Available At Select Contracts

At Select Contracts we specialise in providing personal and business car leasing for any make or model, including all of the very latest 2014 vehicles. Our contract hire service is the best way to have a new car every few years, allowing you to have latest engineering and technological innovations, plus never worrying about breakdown or depreciating costs.

All our vehicles come with free UK delivery from our national network of dealers and vehicle preparation centres. For more information on any of our cars or car leasing services, please get in contact with us by emailing info@selectcarleasing.co.uk or call 0845 6770 770.