Mayor hails success of London-wide ULEZ scrappage scheme, with over 53,000 older, more polluting vehicles removed from London’s roads

• New report evaluating the most recent ULEZ scrappage scheme finds it achieved its aims - with a total of 35,094 cars and 17,964 vans removed from London’s roads or upgraded to a ULEZ-compliant vehicle, helping to substantially reduce harmful emissions and improve air quality.
• Outer London boroughs benefitted most from the scheme, receiving 88 per cent of the distributed funding.
• The scheme has helped Londoners embrace more sustainable forms of travel including walking and bus use.
• The scheme supported international humanitarian efforts, with over 680 vehicles donated to support medical and humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
• The environmental impact of ULEZ has been substantial, with carbon emissions equivalent to nearly three million one-way passenger trips between Heathrow and New York saved. (1)

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has hailed the success of his London-wide ULEZ scrappage scheme as a new report published by Transport for London (TfL) reveals it was successful in helping to substantially reduce harmful emissions and improve air quality by removing older, more polluting vehicles from London’s roads.

The Mayor’s scrappage schemes have played a fundamental role in the success of the ULEZ. Thanks to all phases of the ULEZ, NOx emissions from road transport are estimated to be 36 per cent lower across London in 2024, a saving of around 3,400 tonnes - the equivalent of approximately one year of emissions from all passenger car trips in Los Angeles(2).

Air quality has improved at 99 per cent of air quality monitoring sites across London since 2019, and London’s air quality is improving at a faster rate than the rest of England (3). London’s more deprived communities are seeing greater benefits from the ULEZ; for some of the most deprived communities living near London’s busiest roads, there’s been an estimated 80 per cent reduction in people exposed to illegal levels of pollution, compared to a scenario without the ULEZ (4).

The Mayor and TfL launched the London-wide ULEZ scrappage scheme in January 2023 to support the expansion of the ULEZ to outer London. It followed the success of the Mayor’s previous £61m scrappage scheme to support the introduction of the ULEZ to central London and expansion to inner London (October 2021), which led to more than 15,000 successful applications.

The popularity of the scheme meant that its initial funding of £110m was increased twice by the Mayor to £160m in August 2023 and then to £210m in January 2024. Eligibility was gradually widened in response to uptake and feedback, to include small businesses, those in receipt of Child Benefit, and finally all Londoners with an eligible non-ULEZ compliant car or motorcycle. Changes were also made to allow charities and eligible businesses to scrap or retrofit up to three vehicles. As a result, many more people applied for funding and more than 76,000 applicants went through the process during the 20 months of the scheme’s operation.  

Entirely funded by the Mayor, it remains the largest scheme of its kind in the UK and provided more total funding than all other scrappage schemes supporting Clean Air Zones (CAZs), or Low Emission Zones (LEZs) combined outside of London (5).

Today’s report reviews the scheme and reveals:

• More than 53,000 older, more polluting vehicles were removed from London’s roads - 35,094 cars and 17,964 vans - helping to reduce harmful emissions and improve air quality.
• The scrappage scheme is helping to drive down emissions. The cumulative annual average emissions savings are likely to be around 160 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 8.5 tonnes of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and 33,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a result of the scrappage scheme. This is the equivalent CO2 saving of running 1,000 homes in a year.
• Outer Londoners benefited most from the scheme, receiving 88 per cent of the distributed funding.
• The boroughs of Croydon and Hillingdon saw the highest number of successful applications, demonstrating strong local engagement in the scheme.

The report outlines how new scrappage options such as receiving an annual bus or tram pass alongside a lower grant payment were successful in encouraging Londoners to embrace more sustainable forms of travel:

• 18 per cent of car and motorcycle scheme respondents surveyed reported net increases in walking.
• 12 per cent of car and motorcycle scheme respondents surveyed reported a net increase in bus use, as well as increased use of other active travel and public transport modes.
• 29 per cent of car and motorcycle scheme respondents surveyed chose to not spend their grant on a replacement vehicle.
• Recipients of the bus and tram pass option have amassed more than 81,000 trips using their passes across all 33 local authority areas in Greater London.

The scheme also supported international humanitarian efforts, with 684 vehicles donated to support the medical and humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am proud that the scrappage scheme - the biggest in the UK - has supported so many Londoners to switch to cleaner, greener forms of transport. This has made a huge difference to our air quality, and also encouraged many Londoners to take up more sustainable ways of travelling, which will make a lasting difference to our capital.

“ULEZ compliance is now more than 97 per cent, bringing cleaner air to millions of Londoners. London’s air quality is now improving at a faster rate than the rest of England and we’ve also made a difference overseas, with hundreds of vehicles supporting the medical and humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

“I will continue to take bold, world-leading action to improve London’s air quality and the health of Londoners, as we build a better, fairer, greener capital for all.”

TfL’s Director of Strategy, Christina Calderato, said: “The ULEZ has been a great success, driving down toxic pollution and ensuring everyone living, working and visiting in London is breathing cleaner air.

"The vast majority of vehicles on London’s roads – more than 97 per cent - are now ULEZ compliant, up from just 39 per cent in 2017. The scrappage support schemes have played a vital role in helping Londoners, London-based charities and businesses to remove more than 53,000 older and more polluting vehicle from the capital’s roads.

"People in outer London played their part in the green transition and were supported in doing so with most of the funding going to those living in outer London boroughs. We welcome the positive move towards more walking, cycling and greater use of public transport the scheme has supported, which contributes to the Mayor’s wider goal of 80 per cent of journeys taken via these sustainable forms of transport by 2041.

“Not only has the capital benefited from the scrappage scheme, those on the frontline in Ukraine have also been helped, with close to 700 vehicles donated to assist with the medical and humanitarian effort.”

The expanded ULEZ has helped five million more Londoners to breathe cleaner air and is part of the Mayor and TfL's wider programme to reduce air pollution and its associated health impacts. In London, around 4,000 premature deaths are attributed to toxic air each year (6). Air pollution is also linked to increased risks of asthma, cancer and dementia.

Londoners have continued to upgrade their vehicles to cleaner models with 97.1 per cent of vehicles seen driving in London now ULEZ compliant, up from 91.6 per cent in June 2023 and 39 per cent in February 2017, when changes associated with the ULEZ began.

Iryney Makarukha, ULEZ project lead at British-Ukrainian Aid said: “On behalf of British-Ukrainian Aid and all Ukrainians, we’d like to express immense gratitude to the generous London residents, businesses and charities, as well as the Mayor, GLA and TfL representatives, who made vehicle donations possible through the ULEZ scrappage scheme.

"Over 680 vehicles have been donated to Ukraine and, thanks to tireless efforts of volunteers from British-Ukrainian Aid and partner organisations, over 650 vehicles have already been delivered to charities and NGOs providing humanitarian and medical aid in Ukraine. These vehicles are helping save lives by supporting paramedics, hospitals, and organisations dealing with the devastating consequences of the war.

“Ukrainians appreciate the great support received from Britain and other reliable partners. Thank you so much for this tremendous contribution.”

Nick Clifton, Fleet & Facilities Manager at The Felix Project (a beneficiary of the scrappage scheme) said: “With the help of the scheme we have replaced three vans. These vans are now based in locations that benefit our organisation by doing multiple short distance drops, which works well with the charities that we work very closely with in the Greater and Central London area.  Our newer EV vans are also more reliable, reducing off the road time, which enhances the service we give.

“Overall, we found the application process and messaging for the scheme to be straightforward and were able to submit three successful applications for our three diesel vans. More importantly we were able to use the grant funding towards the cost of electric vans and are hoping they will be more reliable than our old ones – therefore positively benefitting our charity work.”

Susannah Wilks, Director at Cross River Partnerships, said: “This report clearly demonstrates the positive impact of the ULEZ scrappage scheme in accelerating London’s transition to cleaner, healthier transport.

"Removing over 53,000 polluting vehicles from the roads is a major achievement, and the resulting reductions in harmful emissions are a win for public health and the climate.

"It’s especially encouraging to see the scheme supporting more sustainable travel choices like walking and public transport. This is a strong example of how targeted, inclusive policy can deliver real environmental and social benefits.”