London residents offered up to £2,000 in new scrappage scheme | GRR
The Mayor of London has announced a £110million scheme to get London residents within the soon-to-be-expanded ULEZ into cleaner, more compliant cars. The scheme is aimed at Londonders on certain low income or disability benefits.
Eligible applicants will be able to get up to £2,000 for the scrappage of a car and up to £1,000 for the scrappage of a bike. There is also an option for reduced figures plus one of two adult-rate Annual Bus and Tram passes, incentivising drivers to convert to local public transport links.The headline up-to-£5,000 figure applies only to wheelchair accessible vehicles, paying for scrapping of cars and also towards accessibility retrofitment of a new van for wheelchair users.
The grant will apply only to residents of 32 London Boroughs, or the City of London. The vehicle you are applying to scrap must have been registered to your address no later than 30th January 2022, with valid insurance, road tax and an MOT. Needless to say, it also needs to be non-compliant to the current ULEZ emissions standards. Full details of eligibility (including what benefits are eligible) and rates can be found here.
Definitely worth noting too is that the eligibility of some who receive benefits, to receive those benefits, could be affected by receiving the scrappage sum. This is because some are calculated based on savings and income, which of course a £2,000 one-off payment would significantly add to. Something to bear in mind and certainly, a discussion point on which the government will want to scratch together some answers.
On a more academic note, while the cause of improving London’s air quality is an entirely noble one, we can’t help but fear the loss of some weird, wonderful and under-appreciated older cars. A great irony of course, is that a number of cars bought in past scrappage schemes could be eligible to be scrapped in this one, with most pre-2015 diesels (pre-Euro 6) being ineligible for ULEZ exemption.
The last scrappage scheme saw the removal of more than 15,000 older, more polluting cars in London alone. The country-wide scheme was the effective death knell of many aged endangered models that were already reduced in numbers on UK roads. We wonder what cars we’ll be noticing we’re seeing fewer of in London come this time next year…
Images courtesy of Getty Images and Joe Harding.