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Grants and loans

Low emission zone support fund for households

Location notice

Please note that this page contains information and links most relevant for people living in Scotland.

Important information

  • This fund is now open for the funding year 2024/25. Customers who registered interest in the fund have been notified and invited to apply. This fund is expected to be highly popular and may be subject to delays due to high demand.

Energy Saving Trust is offering households, within a 20km radius of the low emission zones, up to £3,000 towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles.

Low emission zones in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are now in effect.  Low emission zones are designed to improve local air quality by discouraging older, more polluting vehicles from entering the zone. 

For more information, please visit our low emission zone webpage

About the low emission zone support fund for households

The low emission zone support fund is funded by Transport Scotland and administered by Energy Saving Trust. It offers an incentive for low-income households to take older, more polluting vehicles off the road. 

Grants of up to £3,000 are available to incentivise the disposal of non-compliant vehicles: 

  • £2,000 is available to eligible households who dispose of their non-compliant vehicle at a Scottish authorised treatment facility. The applicant must live close to a Scottish low emission zone and be in receipt of specific means-tested benefits. 
  • Travel Better grants of up to £500 may also be made available for each adult in your household. A maximum of £1,000 per household applies. 

Funding is subject to availability; limited funding is available.

How to apply

If you wish to apply for funding, you can complete the self-referral form below to check eligibility.

Before you complete the form, please review the eligibility criteria.

Self-referral form

If your answers indicate you may be eligible, you will receive a link to the full online application form by email.  

You MUST NOT scrap your vehicle until you have received and accepted a grant offer letter from Energy Saving Trust confirming your grant award, otherwise your offer will be withdrawn.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the low emission zone support fund, you must meet all of the following criteria (you can also download the eligibility criteria):

  1. You must live within a 20km radius of a Scottish low emission zone. If you are unsure, please review the diagrams provided in the eligibility criteria document.
  2. You must own and be the registered keeper of a vehicle that does not meet the minimum emissions standards of low emission zones:
  • Euro 3 or older petrol vehicles – this  generally applies to those registered before 2006 
  • Euro 5 or older diesel vehicles – this  generally applies to those registered before September 2015 

You can use the Vehicle Checker  to see whether your vehicle would be allowed to enter a zone. 

The vehicle must hold a current MOT, be fully taxed and must not hold SORN status. If you are unsure, you can check online if your vehicle is taxed and its MOT status

  1. You must have owned and been the registered keeper of the vehicle for at least 12 months with no outstanding finance.
  2. You must be in receipt of specific means-tested benefits (eligible benefits are listed below). 

List of eligible benefits: 

  • Adult disability payment 
  • Attendance allowance 
  • Carer’s allowance 
  • Child disability payment
  • Child tax credit 
  • Council tax benefit (excluding 25 per cent discount) 
  • Disability living allowance 
  • Employment and support allowance 
  • Housing benefit 
  • Income-based job seeker allowance 
  • Income support 
  • Pension credit 
  • Personal independence payment 
  • Universal credit 
  • Working tax credit 
  1. The low emission zone support fund cannot be used in conjunction with Transport Scotland’s electric vehicle loan. This is a standalone fund, and the applicant must not apply for the electric vehicle loan within six months following grant payment from the low emission zone support fund.
  2. Funding is available for one eligible vehicle per property.

If you are eligible for the low emission zone support fund and have received funding, you may also be entitled to further funding support towards sustainable travel measures, subject to availability. See the travel better fund for households section below for more information. 

If you would like additional information on the scheme, please email: LEZfund@est.org.uk 

Travel better fund for households

If you successfully claim the low emission zone support fund and choose to move towards sustainable travel modes, you and one other adult in your household may be eligible for reimbursement of up to £500 each (maximum of £1,000 per household, no more than two applicants). 

Alternatively, your households may be eligible to request the full £1,000 per household to fund a cargo (including electric cargo options) or an adapted cycle to support your households needs.  

Eligible travel measures include: 

Purchases must not be made through person-to-person sales, online marketplaces or auction sales are not eligible and will not be reimbursed.  

Bikes and cycles including electric options, purchased must be legal and roadworthy.  

Applicants can submit up to two separate claims. Each claim can consist of a combination of any of the above items from £80 worth of eligible travel measures up to the £500 cap. If the cost exceeds £500, you will need to cover these additional costs yourself. The total value of both claims cannot exceed £500, and a grant offer letter must be in place for each claim before you make a purchase. 

Energy Saving Trust can only reimburse values spent, therefore cannot reimburse items purchased through finance unless the initial deposit payment equals or exceed the grant value agreed. 

Items which are  NOT eligible for the travel better grant include: 

  • cars, mopeds, motor bikes or any other form of motorised transport 
  • electric scooters, scooters, skateboards, hoverboards 
  • forms of public transport not mentioned above, ie flights, ferries or taxis 
  • one off, day, or weekly public transport tickets 

Terms and conditions

Energy Saving Trust is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This fund is subject to availability and terms and conditions apply. 

If you’re looking for business funding, you can find out more on about the low emission zone support fund for businesses.  

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Last updated: 30 August 2024