No, London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards are not getting stricter right now, as the Mayor and Transport for London have confirmed there are no current plans to change the minimum emission requirements. The baseline rules remain set at Euro 4 for petrol cars and Euro 6 for diesel cars, with a daily non-compliance charge of £12.50.
The Mayor has committed to making no changes to the ULEZ standards during his current term. The current standards for vehicle emissions are informed by the European emissions standards. The current standards for vehicles in the ULEZ is Euro 4 for petrol vehicles and Euro 6 for diesel vehicles.
This applies to any vehicle built more than 40 years ago, based on a rolling system set by the DVLA. In 2026, that means vehicles built before 1986 are eligible for historic tax class and are exempt from the ULEZ, regardless of their emissions standard.
The ULEZ is a very targeted scheme, and only affects a small minority of drivers. 96.7 per cent of vehicles seen driving in London on an average day now meet the ULEZ emission standards. This means that the vast majority of drivers are not affected by the ULEZ and do not need to pay the daily charge.
Through data obtained via a freedom of information request, the BBC has found ULEZ generated £224,633,003 in 2022, an average of £18.7m a month. Money came in through two streams: daily charges and PCNs. Any vehicle driven within the zone must meet ULEZ emission standards, or pay a £12.50 daily charge.
You can avoid the charge by walking or cycling wherever possible or using public transport. Download the TfL Go app to plan journeys, receive live travel updates and to find quieter times to travel. Most vehicles need to meet the ULEZ emissions standards or pay a £12.50 daily charge to drive within the zone.
But what do Londoners think of ULEZ expansion? Now a new YouGov survey for ITV, conducted on 9-14 August, finds that Londoners are divided, with 47% supporting the expansion of ULEZ to cover all London boroughs, while 42% are opposed.
Any net revenue received from ULEZ is reinvested into running and improving London's transport network, such as expanding bus routes in outer London. The ULEZ is projected to stop making a surplus in 2026/27 as compliance levels continue to increase.
Plans were announced by London Mayor Boris Johnson in 2015 for the zone to come into operation in 2020. Sadiq Khan, the subsequent mayor, introduced the zone early in 2019.
The research, commissioned by the Mayor of London, estimates that pollution-related premature deaths dropped from around 6,400–8,000 in 2019 to approximately 3,800–5,100 in 2024. The study also found nitrogen dioxide levels across London fell by 41% and fine particulate pollution by 28% over the same period.
See if your vehicle meets the emission and safety standards with this ULEZ check tool. Generally, petrol cars first registered as new with the DVLA after 2005 and diesel cars registered after September 2015 will meet the standards. However, it's based on the emissions and not the age of your car, so always check.
The UK will ban the sale of new pure diesel and petrol cars starting in 2030, while new hybrid sales are allowed until 2035. However, driving existing diesel cars or buying and selling second-hand diesel vehicles remains fully legal past these dates.
You are likely being charged £17.50 because you either used a third-party copycat payment site with hidden fees, combined a standard £12.50 ULEZ fee with a £5 airport drop-off charge (such as at Heathrow), or mixed up the fee with a late London Congestion Charge. The standard daily ULEZ fee itself is £12.50, so any extra amount comes from external costs or extra service fees.
Since the London-wide expansion of ULEZ on the 29 August 2023 and up to the financial period ending the 26 April 2025, TfL's last reported period, the total revenues generated from the scheme are around £394m with direct costs of approximately £120m.
Starting 2 January 2026, the Congestion Charge in central London is set to rise from £15 to £18 per day. At the same time, the Cleaner Vehicle Discount (CVD) for electric vehicles will end on 25 December 2025. That means all EVs will become liable for the Congestion Charge.
Last month it was reported that out of the 1,348,938 ULEZ fines TfL has issued since the ULEZ expansion, 974,590 have still not been paid. Are you surprised by such high levels of non-compliance?
The latest ULEZ expansion has reduced harmful nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions in outer London, which are estimated to be 14 per cent lower in 2024 than they would have been without the ULEZ expansion. concentrations means the amount of pollution found in the air. London Road Network compared to a scenario without ULEZ.
There are no plans to change the ULEZ standards at present. The current standards for vehicle emissions are informed by the European emissions standards. The current standards for vehicles in the ULEZ is Euro 4 for petrol vehicles and Euro 6 for diesel vehicles.
People are moving out of London primarily due to high housing costs, the rise of hybrid work, and a desire for more green space. Recent data shows over 400,000 residents leave the capital annually for other parts of the UK in search of a better quality of life.
There are 2.56m cars licensed in London. This equates to an average of 0.3 cars per adult. In total, 46 per cent of households do not have a car, 40 per cent have one car and 12 per cent have two or more cars, with very few households owning more than two cars.
All phases of the ULEZ have had an impact on improving air quality across the capital. In 2024, compared to a scenario without the ULEZ, harmful roadside NO2 concentrations are estimated to be: 27 per cent lower across the whole of London than they would have been without the ULEZ and its expansions.
