Low-income and disabled Londoners eligible for new car scrappage scheme

Londoners with low incomes or receiving disability benefits could be eligible for £2,000 off a new vehicle when scrapping their old car.

Polluting vehicles account for about 50 per cent of the capital’s harmful nitrogen oxides and the £25m scheme, launched by London mayor Sadiq Khan, is designed to help low income Londoners ahead of the expansion of the city’s Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2021.

The move will see the zone, which charges the most polluting vehicles to enter, grow to include up to the North and South Circular roads.

Crackdown on stolen cars being scrapped and then shipped overseas
Crackdown on stolen cars being scrapped and then shipped overseas

Eligible residents within the Greater London Authority boundary will be able to receive up to £2,000 for scrapping a car and £1,000 for a motorbike or moped, as well as being given a year’s free access to Santander Cycles for journeys up to 30 minutes.

Applications can be made through the Transport for London website and eligibility will be based on individuals being in receipt of one or more of a series of means-tested benefits or non means-tested disability benefits.

Khan said: “Air pollution is a national health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children and leading to thousands of premature deaths.

“City leaders across the world are united in raising the alarm about the dangers posed by poor air quality. Here in London with our bold plans we have already cut pollution by a third in central London where we have implemented the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone and worked tirelessly to clean up the bus and taxi fleet.

“Despite the lack of Government support, our car and motorcycle scrappage scheme will enable low-income and disabled Londoners to scrap their older, polluting vehicles and switch to cleaner versions.”

The Mayor of London also called on the government to provide additional powers and funding to the city to allow it to meet tough World Health Organisation guidelines for fine particulate matter.

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