Do you still have to pay Ulez if you live inside the zone?

London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) is set to be extended across all London boroughs from August 29, 2023.

This has led to protests, as people are angry at having to pay £12.50 a day to use their vehicles and some London borough councils are opposing the expansion.

Many people who live inside the Ulez zone, will be wondering if they still have to pay the charge, to travel to and form their home.

So what are the rules surrounding this? Let’s take a look.

Do you still have to pay if you live inside the Ulez zone?

Yes, you have to pay Ulez even if you live inside the zone.

According to the TfL website, anyone who’s car is not Ulez compliant must pay the £12.50 charge for any journey they take, no matter how small.

This means you would have to pay the charge just for taking a quick drive to the local shop.

However, if you live in the zone and have a car parked on your drive that you do not use, you do not have to pay the charge.

Failure to pay the Ulez charge will result in a £160 fine.

In order to help those who’s cars are not Ulez compliant, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has launched a vehicle scrappage scheme which gives Londoners grants to scrap or retrofit vehicles that do not meet the emissions standards.

The scheme is aimed at ‘Londoners on certain low income or disability benefits, and eligible micro businesses (with up to 10 employees), sole traders and charities with a registered address in the city’.

Why is Ulez being expanded?

The purpose of Ulez is to cut down on pollution and to make London’s air cleaner.

According to TfL, 94% of vehicles in the current Ulez zone now meet the strict emission standards on a daily basis.

This is up from 39% in 2017, when the scheme first came into force.

The levels of harmful nitrogen oxide poisoning have decreased by almost half in central London since 2017, but pollution is not just a problem which affects central London.

TfL says that the greatest number of air pollution deaths occur in outer London.

It says, this is why Ulez must be expanded ‘to help give the five million Londoners in outer boroughs cleaner air to breathe’ .

MORE : How does Ulez differ from the congestion charge – and do you need to pay both?

MORE : All you need to know about the Ulez vehicle scrapping scheme – how it works and check if you’re eligible

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