I'm going to register my UK vehicles at a friend's in the North...

Hi,

I have a 1991 Lotus Elan 1600 SE, bought for £8,000 sterling in June 2024. It's on mainland UK plates but eventually I wish to get it ROI registered. I have a colleague who lives in NI who is happy for me to register the car in his name and address for as many months as needed to comply with the Windsor protocol.

How do I go about doing this and what UK customs forms do I need to have in addition to the V5, a new NI MOT etc? I also wish to do similar with a 2017 motorhome I'm considering buying.

Chris Hayward (Kinsale Cork)

Sep 2025 Filed under: importing

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Expert answer

Hi Chris,

You'll need to go through the usual change-of-ownership process for the UK to transfer ownership to your colleague in Northern Ireland. The UK government has streamlined this with the Tell DVLA you've sold, transferred or bought a vehicle website.

A few months down the line (Revenue has not said how many months it considers "a reasonable amount of time" to be), once you're ready to bring the car into the Republic of Ireland, you'll need to gather paperwork to prove that the car was indeed owned and used by your colleague in the North.

MOTs seem to be the most reliable source of this proof.

Just beware that Revenue has stated it will treat each case on its own merit, and if it gets wind of how you've gone about this, it may not look favourably on it.

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Advisor