No V5 MOT required to get it?

I am looking at buying another series land rover and the owner has the old style v5 in the previous owners name and he said when he sent it off to dvla a couple of years ago to get it in his name the dvla said he would need to get it MOT'd before they would issue a new one as it's been off the road for so long has anyone ever heard of this before?

That sounds a bit odd to me. If the dvla were concerned about identity then they would inspect it. Go with your gut, if it feels a bit iffy then it usually is.

I've never heard of needing an MOT to get a V5, absolute tosh! I would never buy a car without a V5, if there's a legitimate reason for not having it (like losing it) he can apply for another before he sells.
Check the reg here: https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla

I bought a series last year from a guy who only had an old V5 in the previous keepers name - I did check the chassis and engine numbers matched the old V5 and (whilst I arranged for a friend with a flat bed to collect it) got a cheap HPI check.
The DVLA write to the previous owner to give them a couple of weeks to respond before issuing a V5.
I wasnt that happy buying a car without a valid V5 but I could see it from google streetview it had been parked by his garage for at least 2 years!
I couldnt use the previous MOT history or dvla information as it hadnt been on the road since about 2001.

DVLA will inspect it if they suspect anything wrong.
I did this a couple of years ago with a motorcycle that had been off the road since '79. Missed the V5 stage and went from buff to V5C.
Pretty sure I didn't MOT first. The DVLA guy turned up in a Mk 3 escort (a bog standard one) and wrote all the numbers on his clip board (complaining a bit about the paint making the frame number difficult to read). Nothing hard about it, as long as the numbers match what you have on your docs.
If the number plate has been surrendered you will need an MOT to get a new registration.

Will it need a new test if it's been scrapped?

I've done this twice in the last week. I bought 2 vehicles and both of them had the old style logbooks. I phoned the dvla and they check the ref numbers on the logbook and as long as they were the last v5's issued they will change them over just like they would with a new style log book. both vehicle were not in the new database because they hadnt been used for years but the ref numbers from the v5 are on the system.

Nothing wrong with an old style logbook, but there may be if it has a previous owners address on it!