If a VAT-registered trader sells a second-hand item that he has bought from a private seller (non-Vat registered), he is obliged to charge VAT on the marginal difference between selling price and buying cost.
VAT is payable on any goods sold by a VAT registered trader that are vatable. The amount of owners and the age of the item in question are irrelevant. A book is vat free and so remains vat free no matter how many owners it has had. A car though has VAT charged on it no matter how often it is traded back in and re-sold by the same garage.