Payments for London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) van scrappage scheme will double to £7,000, after a poor take up of the initial offer. According to the London Evening Standard, just £2.3m of the £28m fund was spent in 2019, with small business owners unconvinced with the amount available to upgrade their vehicles.
Businesses including Europcar were critical of how the scheme was rolled out, and trade bodies including the Freight Transport Association (FTA) had called on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to do more to reduce the ‘financial burden’ on affected businesses.
The scheme was opened in February 2018, and businesses with fewer than 10 employees could apply for either a payment of £3,500 to scrap a non-compliant van or minibus to purchase a newer Euro 6 vehicle, or £6,000 to buy a new electric vehicle.
To encourage more businesses to take advantage of the scheme, the figure has been increased to £7,000 to buy a Euro 6 vehicle with £9,500 available for the purchase of electric vans.
