Been looking at a car second hand. unfortunately it has a priuvate plate that the owner wants to keep.

How does this work? What is the reg process for getting a normal reg for me? How long does it take?

it is up to the seller to put the private plate on retention with dvla, then either get the original number plates back or buy new one and reregister with DVLA. as a car can not be sold without plates and the reg document to match.

The owner has to either put the old plates back on, or pay for new plates to be put on and registered with the DVLA etc.
Don't buy it unless he has done that

Thanks
Kris

The seller needs to contact his local DVLA office and take all the cars documentation with him. If it had one the DVLA with issue the car with its original number plate, if not they will issue one from their list, they will also issue a new tax disc and mot (if over 3 years old) showing the replacement number plate registration number. This can take anywhere from 1 - 4 weeks.
As said previously you should [b]NOT[/b] enter into buying the car until this is done, unless you know the seller [u]very[/u] well.