Mayor of London announces expansion of £110m ULEZ scrappage scheme

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced that from the beginning of August, tens of thousands more Londoners will be eligible to apply to the scrappage scheme for financial assistance in replacing their non-compliant car or van with a compliant one.

Amongst those now able to apply are all London residents currently in receipt of child benefit of which there are 874,710 in total, 578,315 of whom are in outer London, the area that will be brought into the London ULEZ when it expands on 29th August this year.

Essentially, this means that the income threshold for couples to qualify for the scrappage scheme is rising from  £40,000 per year currently to £50,000 under the new system.  

Also set to benefit are small businesses – those with less than 50 employees. This is something of a jump from the previous limit of ten. Similarly, charities operating in London have hitherto been able to scrap or retrofit one of their vans or minibuses, they will now be able to do that to three vehicles.

It has also been announced that any of the above businesses or charities using the scrappage scheme to buy a brand new, compliant vehicle will be allowed a period of grace if delivery of the vehicle is delayed. A similar grace period will apply if a retrofitting has been booked. Given that there is only a matter of four weeks between the expansion of the scrappage scheme and the expansion of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, such an allowance was probably inevitable.

Sadiq Khan, said: ‘The majority of vehicles in London are already ULEZ compliant and will not have to pay anything. But I completely understand the concerns of people who may not have a compliant vehicle and are worried about how they’ll make the transition.

‘We already have the biggest-ever scrappage scheme in place to support Londoners on low incomes, London based micro-businesses and charities and disabled Londoners. But I’ve listened to families and small businesses in outer London who want more support and I’m pleased to be able to announce today a major expansion to the scheme run by TfL to ensure we can help them.’

Abena Oppong-Asare, MP for Erith and Thamesmead said: ‘Despite nine in ten cars already being ULEZ-compliant, I’ve met with constituents in Erith and Thamesmead who are struggling to make the switch to greener transport. Today’s announcement from the Mayor will go a long way to helping small businesses and families in my constituency.’