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Sadiq Khan's plans to extend London's Ultra Low Emission Zone took a massive step closer today with the launch of a new £110million scrappage scheme.

It will provide financial support for those needing to ditch their older vehicles to avoid the £12.50-a-day ULEZ charge.

However, only private car drivers receiving low-income and disability benefits can apply.

For passenger cars, the scheme offers £2,000 towards their scrapping, while motorcyclists get £1,000 for offloading non-compliant older motorbikes.

The scheme, which opens to online applications today (30 January), is the next stepping stone towards the controversial 29 August ULEZ extension, which will see the emissions charging zone extended across all 32 boroughs in the capital.

Announcing the scheme today, Mr Khan said: 'I took the difficult decision to expand the ULEZ because it will save lives, help tackle the climate crisis and reduce congestion.

'We have made huge progress in central and inner London but there is much more to do in outer London.

'Clean air is a fundamental human right – and everyone deserves to breathe clean air including those in outer London.

'Around 4,000 Londoners are dying prematurely each year due to toxic air, with the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution in London’s outer boroughs.

'It is causing people to develop life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease, dementia and asthma, and leading to children growing up with stunted lungs.'
He went on: 'We need to get the most highly polluting vehicles off our roads, which are damaging the health of all Londoners, including drivers.

'The rising cost of living has been a key consideration for me, which is why we are launching this new and improved scrappage scheme – the biggest ever - to help low-income and disabled Londoners, businesses, sole traders and charities switch to cleaner vehicles, or support them to make the most of other transport options.
'The health of Londoners must come first and I know that expanding the ULEZ London-wide, alongside this £110m scrappage scheme, will help us to continue building a greener, fairer and healthier London for everyone.'

The scrappage scheme is targeted only at those who have a registered home address in one of the 32 London boroughs.

They can only receive the £2,000 payment for a privately-owned passenger car if they can provide evidence of receiving 'certain means-tested benefits and non-means-tested disability benefits'.

These include Universal Credit, Carer’s Allowance, Child Tax Credit, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and several others.

It means motorists who are not receiving benefits are not eligible for the scheme and will need to fully fund their transition to a newer vehicle that complies with the zone's emissions restrictions if they are to evade the £12.50-a-day raid.

In order for a vehicle to be accepted, it must be registered with the DVLA and insured with valid road tax and an MOT. The owner must also have been the registered keeper for at least a year.

Londoners with no-compliant cars can also apply for the £2,000 grant in order to fund 'retrofitting' their vehicles with a Euro 6 engine or converting it into an electric vehicle with batteries and motors.

For the latter process, using a DIY kit installed by a qualified mechanic is roughly £15,000, while conversions by specialists start at the £30,000 mark, according to CarWow.
Applicants can also claim a lower payment plus one or two TfL Annual Bus & Tram passes worth more than the payment alone. For example, an owner of a non-compliant car could claim £1,600 plus one travel pass or £1,200 plus two passes.

Those driving wheelchair-accessible vehicles can receive up to £5,000 towards scrapping or retrofitting their motors.

Small businesses with 10 or fewer employees, sole traders and charities with a registered address in London can also apply for grants of up to £9,500, TfL says.

The move follows a 2019 £90million scrappage scheme offered from 2019 in preparation for the last ULEZ extension, which saw the zone grow from Inner London's Congestion Charge Zone to the boundary of the North and South Circular Roads.

Mayor Khan said that scheme removed more than 15,000 older motors from the capital's roads, with the latest offer looking to scrap even more in the coming months.

Londoners who previously received a grant payment under the earlier TfL scrappage scheme are not eligible to apply for the one launched today.
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