London ULEZ scrappage scheme: Sadiq Khan increases grant to all Londoners with non-compliant vehicles

The Mayor of London has announced more financial support for every Londoner with a polluting car who faces charges under the capital’s ultra low emission zone (Ulez).

Sadiq Khan hopes the major expansion of financial support will ease the impact of the capital’s Ulez scheme on people’s pockets.

Under the scheme, every Londoner with a polluting car will now be able to receive a grant of up to £2,000 to support an upgrade.

The widening of financial support comes after Khan listened to residents’ unease about Ulez amid the cost of living crisis and came after Sir Keir Starmer asked him how the extension of Ulez to the whole of London was being carried out.

The Labour leader blamed concerns around the scheme for his party’s narrow by-election defeat in Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat last month.

The Ulez expansion scheme will go beyond the capital’s north and south circular roads on 29 August. Drivers of vehicles which do not meet minimum emissions standards are charged a £12.50 daily fee for entering the zone.

The scheme began in central London in 2019 and two years later was expanded with minimum controversy to most inner boroughs.

Previously only child benefit recipients, low-income and disabled people were eligible for scrappage grants, but from 21 August all Londoners with non-Ulez compliant cars or motorcycles can apply for the new grant.

The Labour incumbent in City Hall announced that small businesses and sole traders can also get £21,000 to junk up to three vans and £27,000 is available for charities to replace three minibuses.

More support will also kick in on Friday (4 August) including higher payments for switching to an electric vehicle, for charities with old vans, and for retrofitting an existing vehicle. Grants for replacing wheelchair accessible vehicles will double to £10,000.

Khan said expanding the Ulez to the whole of London was a “difficult decision” but one he is “committed to seeing through” and he has “continued to listen to the concerns of Londoners over recent months”.

He added that he is “not prepared to step back, delay or water down vital green policies like Ulez” which “will not only save lives and protect children’s lungs by cleaning up our polluted air but help us to fight the climate crisis.”

Nathan Coe, chief executive of Auto Trader, said the further support “shows that prioritising clean air doesn’t have to be a decision of pocket over planet”.

But Susan Hall, the Conservative Party’s candidate for the London mayor election in May next year, said the changes are “too little, too late”.

She said: “Thousands of families, small businesses and charities face financial ruin because of Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion, which will do next to nothing to improve air quality.

“If I am elected Mayor, I will reverse this disastrous policy and replace it with a £50 million fund to reduce air pollution without taxing people.”