‘WE NEED TO EXEMPT A WIDER RANGE OF CLASSICS’
Classic world reacts to London Mayor’s plans to expand ULEZ again
There are renewed calls from classic experts for Transport for London to allow a wider range of exemption from its Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) if the zone is to be expanded to all of greater London or many enthusiasts will be priced out of the hobby.
London’s ULEZ was introduced in April 2019 but only included the most central areas of London, those already covered by the Congestion Charge. It charges £12.50 to pre-euro 4 (generally 2001) petrols to drive in the zone at any time of day. An exemption to the zone was granted to Historic Vehicles (those over 40 years old) because they aren’t driven as regularly as normal cars and have minimal impact on the NOX emissions that the zones are designed to reduce. However, classics 20-40 years old are charged the ULEZ fee regardless of enthusiast ownership or how often they are driven. The ULEZ expanded to the North and South Circular roads in October 2021, including roughly half of London in the zone – making ownership of a number of classics, including many of the most affordable classic cars, prohibitively expensive.
London Mayor, Sadiq Kahn, announced on 4 March that he wants to expand the ULEZ to include all of Greater London by the end of next year – though the policy will have to go through consultation first.
Stuart Hodson of Romford classic dealership, Past and Present Motor Company, said: ‘The ULEZ expansion in October saw a lot of cars sold out of inner London. It was an opportunity for us in a way but the zone also limits who we can sell our cars to. I don’t think further expansion will affect the more expensive collector classics but it’ll kill off more usable classics that aren’t quite so valuable.
‘The whole thing seems very arbitrary to me.’
Given that the same logic for the 40-year exemption – relatively low annual mileage – also applies to many younger classics, there are calls to extend the ULEZ exemption.
Chairman of London classic car club, Waterloo Classics, Darren Vince, said: ‘It’s going to devastate a lot of people. Most of the Ulezexempt classics are a lot more expensive to buy. It’s a nightmare – I really hope it doesn’t happen. I’d support a compromise where the zone expands but the exemption extends to cars over 30 years old.’
Historic and Classic Vehicles Alliance CEO, Garry Wilson, said: ‘It will certainly impact many classic users. We should consider the definition of “classic” in the context of their inclusion in these rules. The DVLA tax position is 40-year-old cars, however the more widely used definition is cars over 30 years old. Frankly many cars over 15 years old may be classed as classics. We need to clearly understand the fundamental objectives of the ULEZ and work with the legislators to determine how we can exempt a wider range of classics and still support the ULEZ’S overarching objectives.’
The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) communications director, Wayne Scott, said: ‘The FBHVC welcomed the extension of the exemption for historic vehicles within the new areas defined under the London ULEZ but is aware that there are owners of cherished vehicles that fall outside of the classification of historic vehicle or low emissions categories who will be impacted by this. The FBHVC will do all that is within its remit to continue to lobby for exemptions for the historic vehicle community.’ Charlie Calderwood
❚ london.gov.uk