DVLA's May 2025 auction was an online event that ran from Wednesday 14th May to Tuesday 20th May 2025.
With strong performances from classic combinations, quirky words, and name plates, this month's results reinforce the growing appeal of personalised registrations as both style statements and investments.
As always, prices quoted in this report include fees and taxes.
May's top 5
As with many recent DVLA auctions, the O-series registrations were a major draw. Topping the leaderboard was 54 O, which fetched £72,639, proving that single-digit O-plates continue to be among the most desirable.
In second place was 7 FU, which sold for £54,663. Historically, FU registrations were held back from release due to the possible abbreviated meaning of the FU characters, but since DVLA began offering them in February 2024, they've become some of the highest-selling plates in the auctions. Earlier examples include 2 FU, which sold for £74,565 in February 2024, 3 FU (£89,960 in February 2025) and 911 FU (£32,180 in May 2024).
Though some may view FU combinations as cheeky or edgy, 'Fu' is also a common Chinese surname, giving the plates wider cultural relevance and a bigger potential market with more competition to drive up the auction prices.
In this month's third place was PO25 CHE, a fantastic plate for Porsche enthusiasts, which sold for £39,897.
Rounding out the top 5 were two initial plates. In fourth place, JSK 7 sold for £32,450 and, in fifth place, MVS 1 sold for £32,321.
In fact, three-letter number one plates featured strongly overall, making up 40% of the top 10 sales, a sure sign that short, sharp combinations still capture the market’s attention.
Words
This month's word registrations were mostly budget offerings that either included superfluous characters or which were imperfect representations. Nevertheless, they all still worked well visually and represented great value.
1 YOB was the exception. With a perfect 'Yob' combination coupled with the coveted number '1', this was a great registration and a real steal at just £23,449.
77 JET was another neat plate for £16,772, while FAS 2T (Fast) sold for £15,501, 812 OKE (Broke or bloke) for £9,838, FU21 OUS (Furious) for £9,736 and K71 NGS for £9,068.
Names
Name-based plates continue to be a favourite among buyers. Although there seem to be fewer name registrations in the top sales than there have been in the past, prices for imperfect but recognisable names remain robust.
The highest-selling name plate this month was AVI 111 (likely intended for 'Avi', 'Avil', or 'Avill'), which sold for £21,921.
Other notable name-related sales included BAS 5H (for the name 'Bash' or someone who likes to party) at £19,353, UBA 9D ('Ubaid') at £18,711, AAF 11A (possibly 'Aafia' or 'Afia') at £18,480 and OWA 15G ('Owais G') which achieved £18,056.
The name Singh continues to carry strong market value with 51 XGH, an imperfect variant, still commanding £14,217. This shows the ongoing level of demand and competition for plates representing the name.
Cars
We saw above that fourth place in this month's top prices went to a great 'Porsche' registration. Of course, Porsche is always well represented in the auctions one way or another, most commonly by 911 numbers, of which there always seem to be a few.
This month's selection included 911 MMW at £6,718, 911 NSG at £6,641, 911 SJN at £5,216 and 911 LSS which sold for £4,972. With numbers of this type, price can be largely dependent upon competition for the initials accompanying the number.
What was unusual this month was the dearth of plates representing the other car brands that usually make an appearance. It's rare to see so few obvious car-related numbers in the auction. There were a few BMW combinations but the nature of UK number plate formats means that a BMW registration would not also be able to contain initials.
Best of the rest
As we've mentioned many times, O registrations regularly top the rankings of high achievers at auction. We've already mentioned this month's chart-topper, 54 O. Another notable O plate in May's auction was 41 OOO, which came in 30th overall but still reached an impressive £15,360. This one also featured the repeated-character motif that is also very popular with buyers. The same is true of N8 OOO (£5,511).
Other examples of character repetition were 77 YYY, which sold for £11,495, and 7777 MA, which achieved £7,399.
Top 50 sales
| Plate | Price * |
|---|---|
| 54 O | £72,639 |
| 7 FU | £54,663 |
| PO25 CHE | £39,897 |
| JSK 7 | £32,450 |
| MVS 1 | £32,321 |
| DMZ 1 | £24,489 |
| 1 VSK | £24,476 |
| 105 A | £23,847 |
| 1 YOB | £23,449 |
| AVI 111 | £21,921 |
| 171 M | £20,637 |
| 1 LTR | £20,637 |
| 130 Y | £19,366 |
| 7 KKS | £19,353 |
| BAS 5H | £19,353 |
| 18 SSS | £18,814 |
| UBA 9D | £18,711 |
| AAF 11A | £18,480 |
| OWA 15G | £18,056 |
| 1 XDX | £18,017 |
| 770 T | £17,491 |
| 77 JET | £16,772 |
| 2 OJW | £16,207 |
| VPS 2 | £16,169 |
| 220 X | £16,143 |
| SAM 111F | £15,950 |
| 8 SGL | £15,629 |
| 660 E | £15,514 |
| FAS 2T | £15,501 |
| 41 OOO | £15,360 |
| SHO 418B | £15,206 |
| 125 B | £14,358 |
| 9 YSN | £14,281 |
| 51 XGH | £14,217 |
| 1 WYT | £14,217 |
| 1 TXY | £14,217 |
| 2 OCB | £14,217 |
| 990 J | £14,217 |
| 22 UR | £13,755 |
| 24 YK | £13,613 |
| 25 OT | £13,613 |
| 910 AM | £13,613 |
| 140 N | £13,575 |
| 944 H | £13,446 |
| 96 FF | £13,254 |
| 90 HF | £13,100 |
| 770 TAG | £13,061 |
| 45 SY | £12,933 |
| 81 SJG | £12,933 |
| RAV 6L | £12,920 |
* Prices include fees and taxes.
The stats
May's DVLA online auction comprised 2,000 lots, 1,983 of which were sold and 17 unsold. Purchasers spent a total of £6,578,280, delivering £6,228,300 to the Treasury.
The next DVLA timed online auction will take place from Wednesday 18th June to Tuesday 24th June 2025.
The Regtransfers auction
Buy and sell with our number plate auction. You can see what is coming soon or jump in to the listings.
DVLA March 2025 Auction
Learn more about personal number plates that sold for great prices in the DVLA's previous auction.
