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Motor Vehicles: Registration

Asked by Sarah CoombesLabourDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 20 October 2025UIN 82439

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of drivers failed to notify the DVLA of a change of vehicle keeper or ownership in the preceeding five years.

Answered by Simon Lightwood

The latest available data shows that of the 52,898,866 vehicles on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s vehicle database, 49,270,958 are contactable and traceable based on the information held on the DVLA’s records. Of the remainder it is estimated that around 2,889,000 vehicles are in the motor trade where a vehicle can legitimately have no registered keeper.

Information on the number of people who did not notify the DVLA of a change of keeper is not available.

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