Four different schemes, three ways to check
Buying a used car that's not clean enough for where you drive? You could pay every day you use it.
London's ULEZ, London's Low Emission Zone, the Clean Air Zones in seven English cities and Scotland's Low Emission Zones are four separate schemes. Each has its own standards and charges. One check won't cover them all.
The short version: ULEZ is London's Ultra Low Emission Zone. A car that fails the standard pays £12.50 a day. London's Low Emission Zone, or LEZ, sits over the same ground but targets heavy diesel vehicles, and it charges by the day too.
A Clean Air Zone, or CAZ, is the English cities' equivalent, in places like Birmingham and Bristol. Most CAZs don't charge private cars at all.
Scotland uses the LEZ name for something different again. You can't pay to enter a Scottish Low Emission Zone, so a vehicle that fails the standard is simply fined. And the London Congestion Charge is a fifth thing entirely, nothing to do with emissions. It changed for electric cars in January 2026.
Whether a specific car is compliant comes down to its engine emissions standard, not its age or its badge. Check the exact registration before you buy.
This piece is part of our guide to MOT, road tax and staying legal.
What is ULEZ (London's Ultra Low Emission Zone)?
ULEZ charges the most polluting vehicles to drive anywhere in Greater London. It runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year except Christmas Day. If your car doesn't meet the standard, you pay £12.50 for each day you drive inside the zone. If it meets the standard, you pay nothing and don't need to register.
Which vehicles count as ULEZ-compliant
Compliance comes down to the vehicle's Euro emissions standard:
- Petrol cars: Euro 4 or newer, so most petrol cars registered from around 2006.
- Diesel cars: Euro 6 or newer, so most diesels registered from around September 2015.
- Motorcycles: Euro 3 or newer.
The current ULEZ boundary and daily charge
Since 29 August 2023, ULEZ has covered all 32 London boroughs plus the City of London. That's the whole of Greater London. Cars, motorcycles and vans up to 3.5 tonnes pay £12.50 a day. If you don't pay, you'll get a Penalty Charge Notice of £180, reduced to £90 if you pay within 14 days.
How to check if a specific car is ULEZ compliant
Use Transport for London's own vehicle checker at tfl.gov.uk. Enter the number plate and it'll tell you whether that exact car pays. Or use our ULEZ check to check compliance while you look a car over before you buy.
London's Low Emission Zone (LEZ) — the one for heavy diesels
TfL runs a second emissions scheme over the same ground. The Low Emission Zone covers every road in Greater London, plus Heathrow and stretches of the M1 and M4, but not the M25. It runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, Christmas Day included.
It exists because the heaviest vehicles sit outside ULEZ. Lorries, vans and specialist heavy vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, and buses, minibuses and coaches over 5 tonnes, don't pay the daily ULEZ charge at all. They come under the LEZ instead.
Which vehicles the LEZ covers, and to what standard
- Over 3.5 tonnes gross, or over 5 tonnes for a bus, minibus or coach: Euro VI, for both NOx and particulates. Miss Euro VI but still meet Euro IV for particulates and you pay the lower daily charge below rather than the higher one.
- Larger vans and specialist diesels from 1.205 tonnes unladen up to 3.5 tonnes gross, and minibuses up to 5 tonnes: Euro 3 for particulates.
- Small vans up to 1.205 tonnes unladen: not in the LEZ at all.
The daily charges
The charges are much higher than ULEZ, but you can pay to get in:
- £100 a day for a van or specialist diesel over 1.205 tonnes unladen up to 3.5 tonnes gross, or a minibus up to 5 tonnes, that misses Euro 3.
- £100 a day for a vehicle over 3.5 tonnes, or a bus, minibus or coach over 5 tonnes, that meets Euro IV for particulates but not Euro VI.
- £300 a day for a vehicle over 3.5 tonnes, or a bus, minibus or coach over 5 tonnes, that doesn't meet Euro IV.
If you miss the payment, the penalty is £500 for those lighter vehicles. The heavy band, meaning over 3.5 tonnes or over 5 tonnes for a bus, minibus or coach, pays £1,000 if it meets Euro IV but not Euro VI. It's £2,000 if it misses Euro IV. Each is halved if you pay within 14 days.
Watch for the two charges stacking. A larger van that misses both standards pays the ULEZ charge and the LEZ charge for the same day.
Heavy vehicles go through the same TfL vehicle checker as cars. One registration tells you about both schemes.
What is a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) — and how is it different from ULEZ?
A Clean Air Zone works like ULEZ, but individual English councils run it rather than TfL. You check it through a different service. Most CAZs don't charge private cars at all, and only two of the seven charge an ordinary car.
Which English cities have a live CAZ in 2026
There are seven active Clean Air Zones: Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside, meaning Newcastle and Gateshead.
Which vehicles actually get charged
The zones come in classes, and the class tells you who pays:
- Birmingham (Class D) and Bristol (Class D) charge non-compliant private cars. Bristol is £9 a day for a car, and Birmingham is £8.
- Bath, Bradford, Sheffield and Tyneside (Class C) charge buses, coaches, taxis, HGVs, vans and minibuses. Private cars pay nothing.
- Portsmouth (Class B) charges buses, coaches, taxis and HGVs. Again, private cars pay nothing.
Seen the exact phrase "CAZ Class D exempt" on a sat-nav or a "pass required" warning and wondering what it means? Our guide to CAZ Class D exempt: what it means explains the phrase itself.
Don't pay a charge you owe and the penalty is £120, halved to £60 if you pay within 14 days.
Greater Manchester — why there's no CAZ there
Manchester confuses a lot of people. Greater Manchester was directed to set up a charging Clean Air Zone, but that plan was dropped. The Government approved a non-charging, investment-led Clean Air Plan instead. So there is no Clean Air Zone charge to pay in Greater Manchester.
How to check CAZ compliance
Check all seven with one government service, "Drive in a clean air zone," at gov.uk. Enter the registration and it'll tell you whether that vehicle pays in any of them. It's separate from TfL's London checker. A car cleared for London still needs checking for Birmingham or Bristol, and the other way round.
Scotland's Low Emission Zones — same name, different system
Scotland uses the LEZ name too, and means something else by it. Its four biggest cities have Low Emission Zones: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee. These run on the same Euro-standard idea, and they cover ordinary cars, which London's LEZ does not. One big difference matters most.
No pay option — you're fined instead
You can't pay a daily charge to drive a non-compliant vehicle into a Scottish LEZ. If your car doesn't meet the standard, you get a penalty instead. The first one is £60, reduced to £30 if you pay within 14 days.
The fine then doubles each time the same vehicle is caught in the same zone within 90 days. The cap is £480 for cars and light goods vehicles, and £960 for buses and HGVs.
Check a vehicle before you travel with the Scottish LEZ checker on the Low Emission Zones Scotland site.
The London Congestion Charge and electric cars — what changed in 2026
The Congestion Charge is not an emissions scheme. It's a charge for driving in central London on weekdays and weekend afternoons, and it applies however clean your car is. It matters here because the deal for electric cars changed at the start of 2026.
The end of the 100% discount and what replaced it
Until recently, zero-emission vehicles got a 100% "Cleaner Vehicle Discount", so electric cars paid nothing. That discount ended on 25 December 2025.
The full charge didn't simply replace it. That's where a lot of outdated advice goes wrong. From 2 January 2026 the standard Congestion Charge rose to £18 a day, up from £15.
TfL brought in a smaller tiered discount for electric vehicles registered on its Auto Pay system. That's 25% off for electric cars, or around £13.50 a day. It's 50% off for electric vans and HGVs.
These figures and rules change on TfL's own timetable, so I'd check the current rate at tfl.gov.uk before relying on it.
An electric car in central London costs less than a petrol one, but it isn't free any more.
Why this is separate from ULEZ
Keep the two separate. The Congestion Charge change does not touch ULEZ, and zero-emission vehicles stay fully ULEZ-exempt whatever happened to the Congestion Charge discount. An electric car pays no ULEZ charge, though it may now pay a reduced Congestion Charge in central London.
How to check any specific car before you buy it
Running costs are part of the price. Before you commit, check the exact registration against the schemes that matter for where you'll drive:
- London ULEZ, LEZ and the Congestion Charge: TfL's checker at tfl.gov.uk.
- English Clean Air Zones: the "Drive in a clean air zone" service at gov.uk.
- Scottish LEZs: the Low Emission Zones Scotland checker.
For a wider look at a car you're considering, run a ULEZ check alongside an MOT check. That covers its MOT history and whether it's road-legal. Our guides to what an MOT actually tests and car tax bands explained cover the rest of what staying road-legal costs and requires.
A Comprehensive check then covers the bigger risks: outstanding finance, write-off history and mileage. So you're not buying a problem you can't see.
FAQs
What's the difference between ULEZ, a Clean Air Zone and a Low Emission Zone?
Same broad idea, run separately. But "Low Emission Zone" means two different things. ULEZ is London's scheme for cars, motorcycles and vans up to 3.5 tonnes, run by TfL. London's LEZ is TfL's scheme for heavier diesel vehicles, and it charges by the day as well. Clean Air Zones are the English city schemes, run by councils through gov.uk. Scotland's Low Emission Zones share the LEZ name but work differently: you can't pay to enter one, so you're fined instead.
How do I check if my car is ULEZ compliant?
Enter the number plate into TfL's vehicle checker at tfl.gov.uk, or use our ULEZ check. Don't judge it by the car's age. The Euro emissions standard decides.
Do electric cars pay the London Congestion Charge?
Yes, since 2 January 2026. The old 100% discount ended on 25 December 2025. Electric cars on TfL Auto Pay now get roughly 25% off. That's about £13.50 a day rather than £18. So they cost less than a petrol car, but they no longer travel free.
Which UK cities have a Clean Air Zone in 2026?
Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside, meaning Newcastle and Gateshead. Only Birmingham and Bristol charge private cars.
Does Manchester have a Clean Air Zone?
No. The charging scheme was dropped in favour of a non-charging, investment-led plan. So there's no CAZ charge to pay in Greater Manchester.
Can I just pay to drive into a Scottish Low Emission Zone?
No, and this is where the shared LEZ name misleads people. There's no pay-to-enter option in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Dundee, so a non-compliant vehicle is fined instead, starting at £60. London's LEZ does let you pay, at £100 or £300 a day.