Shoppers in London have spent less on their local high streets since Sir Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ scheme was expanded to cover the whole city, new figures suggest.
London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was expanded to cover the whole of the UK capital in August 2023, requiring vehicles to meet strict emission standards, with non-compliant vehicles charged a daily fee of £12.50.
The move was designed to improve air quality standards in London, and Khan has hailed a new Transport for London (TfL) report that showed a decline in harmful emissions after the change was implemented.
However, the report also suggested that the ULEZ expansion caused a drop in retail spend across the city, with figures dropping by an average of 3.4% in outer boroughs and 2.8% in inner London.
Only eight of the city’s 33 local authority areas recorded an increase in high street spending in the year to August 2024, while Barking and Dagenham saw the largest drop, of 13.25% after the East London borough was included in the scheme two years ago.
Retail spend in London also fell more quickly between August 2023 and August 2024 than footfall during the same period, according to the British Retail Consortium – suggesting that while shoppers were still heading out and about, they were making a concentrated effort to curb their spending.
The Mayor said: “The decision to expand the ULEZ was not something I took lightly, but this report shows it was the right one for the health of all Londoners. It has been crucial to protect the health of Londoners, support children’s lung growth, and reduce the risk of people developing asthma, lung cancer and a host of other health issues related to air pollution.
“Thanks to ULEZ and our other policies, all Londoners are now breathing substantially cleaner air – but there is still more to do, and I promise to keep taking action as we build a greener, fairer London for everyone.”
Khan’s critics have accused him of ignoring the impact of the zone expansion on already-struggling London businesses.
Hamish Mansbridge, CEO of British furniture company Heal’s, told The Telegraph that ULEZ was among the factors discouraging domestic tourists from visiting London in 2023, alongside “parking difficulties, train strikes and the cost-of-living crisis”.
Keith Prince, the City Hall Conservatives’ transport spokesman, also argued against Khan’s celebration of the new report. He said: “The Mayor is supposedly comparing these results to a London where the ULEZ scheme didn’t happen, as though we can accurately measure such a thing.
“How he can say that ULEZ is reponsible for London’s air cleaning up with a straight face is beyond me – the data relies on maybes, possibilities, assumptions and straight up fantasy in order to justify a project that is saddling TfL and Londoners with mountains of debt.”
A spokesperson for Sadiq Khan said: “Sadiq is proud to be a pro-business Mayor. The overwhelming evidence is that ULEZ has not impacted footfall or retail and leisure spending in outer London.”
