How much does a van cost in the UK?

It depends on the body far more than the badge. From UK dealer and trade listings in October 2026: a Luton or box van of 2019 to 2023 with a tail lift runs about £10,000 to £21,000 plus VAT; a 3.5 tonne single-cab tipper of the same age about £16,000 to £20,000 plus VAT; a dropside about £10,250 to £19,750 plus VAT; and clean refrigerated stock about £7,000 to £12,500 plus VAT. Older high-mileage Lutons start around £4,250, though most of that stock is sold on the margin scheme with no reclaimable VAT. All of these are asking prices, not what vehicles actually sell for.

New, yes — but much less than the headlines suggest, and it depends entirely on whether the price you are shown already has the government grant taken off. Ford publishes both fuels in one price list with no grant applied, and there the gap runs from about 1.4% to 24%: the E-Transit 68kWh Leader is £50,345 against £49,645 for the diesel, which is effectively parity. Vauxhall and Peugeot quote electric after the £5,000 grant, which makes their gaps look like 29% to 47% — grossed back up they are 49% to 63%. A fair headline is roughly £5,000 to £10,000 more on a mid-size van and £14,000 to £19,000 before grant on a large one.

GOV.UK currently offers a 35% discount on eligible vans, capped at £2,500 for vans under 2,500kg gross vehicle weight and £5,000 for vans between 2,500kg and 4,250kg. To qualify the van must produce 0g CO2 per km at the tailpipe and travel at least 96km (60 miles) with no emissions. Importantly, you do not apply — the dealership or manufacturer does, and the discount comes off the price you are quoted. GOV.UK notes there are a limited number of grants available. Grant schemes change, so check the position at the point of purchase rather than relying on any article, including this one.

On current used listings, no — and this is the number that matters most if you are financing one. A 2023 Ford E-Transit with 19,902 miles was listed at £16,490 plus VAT, while a 2023 diesel Transit 350 with 31,216 miles — considerably more use — was £18,995 plus VAT. The electric van cost thousands more new and is worth less three years on. On 2022 Vauxhall Vivaros the new-price premium has vanished completely at the used end. There is a widely-quoted industry statistic suggesting electric vans retain value better than diesel, but it contradicts what is actually advertised and we could not verify it in a primary source, so we are not relying on it.

Because roughly half the used van market is sold under the VAT margin scheme — typically ex-private or non-VAT-registered stock — where there is no VAT to reclaim. The rest is "plus VAT", where a VAT-registered business reclaims it on the next return. That makes headline prices genuinely incomparable until you normalise them: a £12,000 "No VAT" van and a £12,000 "+ VAT" van are £12,000 and £14,400 respectively, and only one of them gives you £2,400 back. Cap HPI’s own methodology puts it plainly: VAT-qualifying van values are inclusive of VAT, and the rest are exclusive. Check which you are looking at before you compare anything.

The honest answer for most trades is used, because the body is what you are buying and a three-year-old Luton body does the same job as a new one. Where new makes sense is warranty, downtime and — on electric — the grant, which only applies to new vehicles. One thing to weigh on finance specifically: with used stock you are often buying at a point where depreciation has already flattened, which can make the end-of-term position more predictable. On a new electric van the opposite currently applies, as the used listings above show. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.