{"id":1820539,"date":"2026-09-22T17:14:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lexpress-franchise.com\/en\/articles\/open-a-car-garage\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T15:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T13:57:37","slug":"open-a-car-garage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lexpress-franchise.com\/en\/articles\/open-a-car-garage\/","title":{"rendered":"How to open a car garage in the UK 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anyone can repair cars for money in the UK. No licence, no registration, no qualification is required to open a garage and charge for the work. Testing those same cars is different: an MOT may only be carried out at premises the DVSA has authorised, by a tester it has qualified, at a price the government caps by law.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That split runs through the whole business. Repair work is governed by ordinary contract and consumer law, workshop safety rules and waste duties. MOT testing is a separate authorisation with its own application, its own qualifications, its own annual assessment and its own statutory price ceiling. Vehicle testing in Great Britain is run by the DVSA; Northern Ireland tests through DVA-operated centres rather than private garages. Waste and environmental duties are split across all four nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a car garage business?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A car garage business services and repairs vehicles for payment from a workshop, and in Great Britain it may also test them if the DVSA has authorised the premises as a vehicle testing station and qualified the people doing the testing. The repair side needs no permission to begin. The testing side cannot begin at all until an application has been approved and the site inspected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why the trade divides into garages that hold an MOT authorisation and garages that do not, and why the authorisation is treated as an asset rather than a formality. It brings vehicles onto the ramp on a legally mandated annual cycle, which no amount of marketing replicates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"mechanic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How to open a car garage in the UK, step by step<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A repair-only car garage can trade as soon as it has premises, insurance and a competent mechanic. Everything below the third step applies only to businesses that want to test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a car garage needs in place before it opens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n