The leaving of London
▶ London’s ULEZ expansion came into force on October
26. It covers pretty-much everywhere within the north and south circular roads, and it now costs £12.50 a day to drive any non-compliant car in the zone unless it meets at least Euro 4 standard (generally 2006 or younger) for petrol or Euro 6 (2016 and younger) for diesels. There are some permanent exemptions – for example historic vehicles are exempt – though only pre-1973 historic goods vehicles are. Owners of cars taxed as ‘disabled’ or ‘disabled passenger’ are also currently exempt – but only until October 2025.
There is, however, no specific exemption purely for living in the ULEZ. Consequently, and not really surprisingly, the past few months have seen a significant reduction in the number of daily-use old cars in the capital. For years North London was somewhere elderly luxobarges often lasted longer than elsewhere. Now, though, they’ve almost all gone.
Some astute traders have also done pretty well out buying well-maintained big Mercs, BMWS, Lexi and so on and rehoming this ‘London Luxury’ elsewhere. There’s also been a steady exodus of pre-2016 diesels from London. Many of these have actually found happy new homes in Northern Ireland where, because diesel fuel is cheaper than petrol in the republic, oil burners remain popular.
Most of this action has now happened, though we may see a few after-effects over the next couple of months, as the last ULEZ trade-ins work their way out to retail buyers.
London, though, won’t be the last city to go down this route; several others are also looking at introducing ULEZS. A future profit opportunity perhaps?