Vans and light commercial vehicles

UK light commercial vehicle registrations reached 201,671 in the year to the end of August 2026, up 4.0% on the same period in 2025 (193,846 units), according to SMMT figures; August itself added 15,544 vans and rigids to that total. The year-to-date trend, not any single month's percentage change against a weaker year-earlier comparator, is the number worth tracking for planning.

Residual value forecasting for used vans has extended its horizon. Cap hpi's light commercial vehicle overview, published in September 2026, now sets out forecasts from twelve months out to four years, useful for fleets planning disposal timing on longer cycles. The valuations assume a van in cap Average Condition, so compare a fleet's own return standard with that before relying on them.

Double-cab pick-ups changed tax category on 6 April 2025. HMRC now classes most of them as cars, not vans, for benefit-in-kind and capital allowances, following a Court of Appeal ruling on the "primary suitability" test. A pick-up bought, leased or ordered before that date keeps the old van treatment until disposal, lease expiry or 5 April 2029, whichever comes first, so fleets running pick-ups on old and new terms side by side need to track which basis each vehicle is on.

The plug-in van grant still discounts eligible zero-emission vans at the point of purchase: up to £2,500 for small vans and £5,000 for large vans. Our reporting has tracked manufacturers working on the practical limits of electric vans, from payload-preserving racking conversions to auxiliary power fixes, rather than headline range claims.