Depends on the business and type of lease.
Contract hire is a form of lease and that usually has the VAT element charged on each rental. So a typical C/H deal for a 48 month contract will be 3/47 - 3 payments up front + VAT followed by 47 months + VAT on each rental.
The vehicle remains the property of the finance house/leasor and being a van, a VAT registered company will claim each VAT payment back. At the end of the contract the van goes back to the leasing company. By law you aren't allowed to buy it.
The van is not shown as an asset on your books and you claim the monthly payment against business expenses. Down side is that your van has to be in good condition, fair wear and tear excluded. Putting damage right is not an insurance job and can cost dearly. The finance house will also ask you to provide your fully comprehensive insurance details each year.
Personal finance lease or Finance lease is different as the van will be registered to you or the business and will shown as an asset on your books. In this case a VAT registered company will be required to pay the full VAT up front as they will be claiming it back and whatever the finance house deems a suitable deposit. Usually the negotiating point is full VAT up front period followed by the monthly instalment. Depending on the finance house and their evaluation of the risk, they may ask for an additional deposit on top of the VAT.
A soletrader who isn't VAT registered will probably be asked to provide a 10% deposit on the total price of the van including VAT.
Again some finance leases will allow a balloon payment at the end of the lease. The advantage is that it helps you reduce your monthly payments. At the end of the contract your van becomes yours when you pay the final balloon payment. if the van's value is below the value of the balloon payment - tough you still have to pay the agreed amount.
Some businesses would trade their vans in for a new one and let the dealer settle the final payment as part of the trade in deal. But certain businesses, such as builders won't be offered the balloon payment option as the van would probably be worthless at the end of the finance term due to driver abuse.
As always, the best person to speak to is a knowledgeable accountant. What may be right for you and your business today may not be a good option in 6 months time.
In the motor industry we invariably found that the people looking for very low deposits and leasing contracts were people with a bad credit history and CCJ's. The finance houses do strict credit checks in the same way as they would for Hire Purchase agreements and they were sometimes more strict. They also usually ask for 3 months of bank statements to analyse if you can afford the payments and sometimes asked for a further 3 months if they were concerned.
As deals and terms change, It is also always better to ask the saleman at the rock face - if you can find a decent one left.
Spruce