Low Emission Zone (LEZ), London

Which roads does the London Low Emission Zone cover?

TfL's own description is short: all roads within Greater London are included, together with the roads at Heathrow and parts of the M1 and M4, while the M25 is not included, even where it passes within the GLA boundary. So the orbital motorway is the one way to take a non-compliant lorry round the capital without owing a charge. Leave it for a depot in Park Royal or a building site in Croydon and the vehicle is in the zone.

The charge is for driving, not for being there. TfL says LEZ charges do not apply to vehicles when they are parked within the zone and not driving, so a coach that brings a group in on Monday and waits in a coach park until Friday owes for the days it moves, not the days it sits. TfL describes the LEZ as running 24 hours a day, every day of the year; the Christmas Day pause on its pages belongs to the ULEZ, which operates in the same zone.

Which vehicles pay the LEZ, and is it £100 or £300 a day?

The LEZ does not apply to cars or motorcycles. It is aimed at diesel vans, minibuses and heavy vehicles, and it sorts them by weight before it looks at emissions. A van or specialist diesel vehicle counts once it is over 1.205 tonnes unladen, up to 3.5 tonnes gross; a smaller van is outside the LEZ, though still inside the ULEZ. Over 3.5 tonnes gross, TfL lists lorries and vans alongside motor caravans, motorised horseboxes, breakdown and recovery vehicles, snow ploughs, gritters, refuse collection vehicles, road sweepers, concrete mixers, fire engines, tippers and removal lorries. Buses, minibuses and coaches join that heavy group above 5 tonnes.

Heavy vehicles need Euro VI for both NOx and particulates, which TfL says generally means a vehicle first registered with the DVLA after 1 January 2014. The lighter group needs only Euro 3 for particulates, a far older benchmark.

How do I prove a lorry, coach or van meets the LEZ standard?

Run the registration through TfL's vehicle checker first. If it shows the vehicle below the standard and you hold evidence that it is not, register it with TfL. The evidence TfL lists is a letter from the manufacturer's homologation department showing the Euro standard, a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer, or, for the LEZ only, proof of abatement equipment fitted to the vehicle, each sent with a copy of the V5C or its non-UK equivalent.

Retrofitting is a legitimate route, but slow to show up. TfL lists selective catalytic reduction to cut NOx, a replacement Euro VI engine and conversion to electric power, with approved kit certified under the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme, a Defra-funded government scheme that sets common standards for clean air zone cities. It warns that the record can take up to seven days to update after installation, that fitting a filter does not by itself guarantee compliance, and that charges paid while the vehicle was non-compliant are not refunded.

Fleet managers have a fourth option TfL names: reorganise the fleet so that only compliant vehicles are sent into London. If a certified vehicle changes number plate, TfL says there is no fee for issuing new Reduced Pollution or Low Emission Certificates.

How do I pay the LEZ daily charge, and how late can I pay?

TfL lets you pay for any of the three previous days, for today or for any day up to 90 days ahead. Put the other way round, a journey has to be paid before midnight of the third charging day after it. You can pay online, by phone on 0343 222 2222, or through Auto Pay, which charges a registered vehicle for each day it is driven below the standard.

For an operator, Auto Pay is the safer habit: TfL charges no registration or renewal fee for it and bills monthly. Up to five vehicles fit on standard Auto Pay, while a business running six or more uses Fleet Auto Pay. Activation covers earlier journeys on that same day; journeys on previous days need separate payment.

How much is a London LEZ penalty, and how does it escalate?

LEZ penalties are sized for commercial vehicles and sit far above the £180 ULEZ penalty. A heavy vehicle meeting Euro IV for particulates but missing Euro VI faces £1,000; one below Euro IV for particulates faces £2,000. A van or minibus in the lighter group faces £500. Paying within 14 days of service halves the penalty.

Left alone for 28 days, the penalty rises by half and a charge certificate goes to the registered keeper, after which you have 14 days to pay and can no longer challenge by representation. Next TfL can register the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, adding a debt registration fee for each PCN, and serve an order for recovery with 21 days to pay. After that comes a warrant of execution and an enforcement agent.

To contest a PCN, make a representation within 28 days of service. If TfL rejects it, appeal within 28 days of the notice of rejection to the Road User Charging Adjudicators, the independent tribunal for Congestion Charge, LEZ, ULEZ and Blackwall and Silvertown tunnel penalties. You can appeal online with the verification code or on the enclosed form, and choose a personal or postal hearing. If the appeal is allowed and you had already paid, the money comes back.

Which vehicles are exempt from the London LEZ?

The LEZ exemption list is short, and most of it applies automatically to a vehicle registered in the UK. Four groups never pay: specialist vehicles designed and built mainly for off-road use, such as agricultural and forestry tractors, mowing machines, farm machinery, mobile cranes and road and building construction machinery; vehicles built before 1 January 1973; vehicles in the historic tax class; and vehicles operated by the Ministry of Defence. The same vehicles registered abroad are exempt too, but only once they are registered with TfL.

Showman's vehicles can get a 100 per cent discount if they are registered to someone following the business of a travelling showman and have been modified or specially constructed for one of TfL's listed uses, including performances, carrying equipment or displaying animals to the public, or have changes below chassis level that leave no room for abatement equipment. Trailers and semi-trailers do not qualify, and every showman's vehicle, UK or foreign, has to be registered to claim it.

Does a lorry need anything besides the LEZ to drive in London?

Yes, once it is over 12 tonnes. TfL's page on vehicles and the LEZ reminds operators that an HGV over 12 tonnes gross needs an HGV Safety Permit to drive anywhere in Greater London at any time, and that a lorry without one is liable to a penalty charge notice. The permit is free to apply for. It is a safety scheme rather than an emissions one, so a brand new Euro VI lorry still needs it.

How has the London LEZ changed since 2008?

The LEZ went live on 4 February 2008 for diesel lorries over 12 tonnes, and on 7 July 2008 it took in vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches. The launch release set the daily charge at £200 and the penalty at £1,000 for lorries, buses and coaches, reduced to £500 within 14 days. Diesel vans and minibuses from 1.205 tonnes unladen to 3.5 tonnes gross followed on 3 January 2012, when lorries, buses and coaches also had to meet Euro IV.

The most recent tightening came on 1 March 2021, when heavy vehicles had to meet Euro VI for NOx and particulates or pay £100 or £300 a day.

Has the tighter LEZ changed what drives into London?

City Hall put heavy vehicle compliance at around 70 per cent in May 2019 and nearly 90 per cent on the day the Euro VI rule began. On 4 October 2021 it reported that compliance among lorries, buses and coaches had risen from 87 per cent to 95 per cent since the stricter standards arrived, and had almost doubled since the scheme was announced in February 2017. It expected the tighter rule to cut NOx from heavy vehicles by as much as 60 per cent.

The same release made a point that reaches beyond London: vehicles that passed through the LEZ went on to drive through 95 per cent of the major towns and cities in England and Wales, a combined population of 18 million people. A lorry cleaned up to meet London's rule stays cleaner wherever else it delivers.

What does the LEZ cost a Euro V tipper working in London?

Heavy vehicles registered before 2014 are the ones to check first, since TfL ties Euro VI to first registration after 1 January 2014.

Does a big motorhome pay the LEZ on a week's holiday in London?

Motorhomes over 3.5 tonnes are heavy vehicles here, judged against Euro VI exactly as a lorry is.

Does a coach from abroad have to register for the LEZ?

It does, and the rule catches well kept coaches as much as old ones, because registration is about paperwork rather than emissions.