Official DVLA data, analysed · updated with 2026 Q1 figures
A record 7.2 million UK vehicles are now declared off the road
New analysis of DVLA licensing data shows 7,198,812 vehicles held a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) at the end of March 2026, the highest figure on record. That is one in every seven registered vehicles, and more than one in ten cars. The number of off-road vehicles has more than doubled in a decade.
The ten-year rise of the off-road vehicle
The share of registered vehicles declared SORN has climbed from 6.4% in late 2014 to 14.5% in March 2026. A SORN keeps a vehicle legally registered while it is untaxed and uninsured, provided it stays off public roads, so the trend reflects owners laying up vehicles rather than scrapping them: project cars, seasonal vehicles, and cars parked up as running costs have risen.
Share of registered UK vehicles with a SORN, quarterly. Source: DfT/DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0101, 2026 Q1.
Where Britain parks up: the nations
Northern Ireland has the highest share of off-road vehicles of the four nations, with Wales second. Within England and Wales, the league table below covers all 329 local authorities: rural west Wales and the Lincolnshire Fens dominate the top of the table, while a cluster of London boroughs, led by Barking and Dagenham at 21.4%, shows the trend is not only rural.
The SORN league table: all 329 local authorities
| Rank | Local authority | SORN vehicles | Share off-road | 2016 share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ceredigion | 22,879 | 28.7% | 18.0% |
| 2 | Carmarthenshire | 44,843 | 23.8% | 14.4% |
| 3 | Powys | 36,063 | 23.5% | 14.9% |
| 4 | Boston | 14,471 | 23.1% | 12.4% |
| 5 | Pembrokeshire | 29,400 | 22.9% | 13.9% |
| 6 | Fenland | 22,026 | 22.6% | 13.0% |
| 7 | South Holland | 21,635 | 22.0% | 13.3% |
| 8 | Gwynedd | 24,089 | 21.9% | 14.6% |
| 9 | East Lindsey | 29,930 | 21.4% | 13.1% |
| 10 | Isle of Anglesey | 14,355 | 21.4% | 14.3% |
| 11 | Barking and Dagenham | 20,849 | 21.4% | 9.5% |
| 12 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 30,726 | 21.3% | 12.8% |
| 13 | North Lincolnshire | 30,889 | 20.6% | 11.4% |
| 14 | Staffordshire Moorlands | 19,217 | 20.5% | 12.6% |
| 15 | Thurrock | 26,776 | 20.1% | 9.8% |
| 16 | Forest of Dean | 17,837 | 20.1% | 14.1% |
| 17 | Torridge | 14,498 | 20.1% | 13.7% |
| 18 | Brent | 27,375 | 19.7% | 8.2% |
| 19 | Breckland | 26,736 | 19.4% | 11.7% |
| 20 | Cornwall | 103,837 | 19.3% | 12.4% |
Source: DfT/DVLA table VEH0125, 2026 Q1, England and Wales, all keeperships. Areas hosting large company fleet registrations (for example Windsor and Maidenhead) show artificially low shares.
Check any vehicle's SORN status free
Our free SORN checker shows whether any UK vehicle is declared off-road, using official DVLA data. You can also check a vehicle's MOT history and its insurance group before you buy.
The MOT picture: 9.8 million failures a year
DVSA testing data for Great Britain shows 35,229,047 MOT tests were carried out in 2024/25, of which 9,828,083 failed at the first attempt, a failure rate of 27.9%, or roughly one failure every 3.2 seconds. 2,701,470 tests (7.7%) failed with at least one dangerous defect. The long-term picture is improving: the initial failure rate has fallen from 39.5% in 2013/14.
What fails most (cars and vans, 2024/25)
- Lamps, reflectors and electrical10.89%
- Suspension8.73%
- Brakes6.63%
- Tyres6.39%
- Driver's view of the road4.54%
Lighting problems account for a quarter of all defects recorded, while tyres account for six in ten dangerous defects, the failures that make a car unsafe to drive away.
Source: DVSA MOT testing data for Great Britain, tables MOT-01 and MOT-03, 2024/25. Percentages show the share of all tests failing on each category.
Methodology and sources
- SORN and licensing figures: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, tables VEH0101 (national, quarterly to 2026 Q1) and VEH0125 (local authority level, 2026 Q1). Local authority shares are SORN vehicles as a percentage of all vehicles registered to addresses in the area.
- MOT figures: DVSA MOT testing data for Great Britain, 2024/25 financial year. MOT statistics cover Great Britain only; Northern Ireland operates a separate test regime.
- Motorcycle SORN rates peak seasonally at the end of winter; end-March figures reflect that.
- Data is published under the Open Government Licence. Our analysis may be reused with attribution and a link to this page.