Clean air zones · England
Birmingham Clean Air Zone: does your car pay?
Yes. Birmingham's zone is Class D, so private cars pay a daily charge if they don't meet Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel. Most petrol cars from 2006 and diesels from late 2015 are fine.
The Birmingham zone at a glance
| Private cars | Pay if they miss the standard |
|---|---|
| Class | Class D |
| Who it affects | Cars, vans, taxis, buses, coaches and lorries that miss the standard. Motorcycles and mopeds aren't charged, and no vehicle is banned outright. |
| Standard | Euro 4 for petrol and Euro 6 for diesel, the same as London's ULEZ. Motorcycles and mopeds aren't charged. |
| In force | Charging started on 1 June 2021. The exemptions for people working in the zone ended on 31 May 2022, and for residents on 31 May 2023. |
| Where | The city centre inside the A4540 Middleway ring road. The Middleway itself isn't in the zone. |
| Run by | Brum Breathes (Birmingham City Council) |
How it’s enforced
It's a daily charge, midnight to midnight. You can pay on GOV.UK up to 6 days before, on the day, or by 23:59 on the 6th day after; there's no automatic bill, so an unpaid charge becomes a penalty charge notice. The zone runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Birmingham City Council listed £8 a day for cars, taxis and vans and £50 for buses, coaches and lorries on 25 September 2026. The penalty for not paying was £120, cut to £60 if paid within 14 days. Amounts change, so check Brum Breathes (Birmingham City Council) before you rely on them.
What our check tells you
Enter a registration above and the report gives a ULEZ and clean air zone verdict. The Birmingham zone uses the same bar as London’s ULEZ, so one verdict covers both. The check works from the vehicle’s first registration date, using the rule of thumb that petrol cars from January 2006 and diesel cars from September 2015 generally meet the standard. Some older petrol cars comply too, and the V5C is the final word. Before you drive in, confirm on the GOV.UK clean air zone vehicle checker.
Motorcycles aren’t charged in any zone outside London, so ignore the Euro 3 line on a motorbike’s result.
How many local vehicles fall before the cut-off dates
Of the 926,087 cars and light vans that took an MOT in the B (Birmingham) postcode area in 2025, 25.6% were petrol vehicles first registered before 2006 or diesels first registered before September 2015. Across Great Britain the figure was 26.7%.
Measured from DVSA’s anonymised MOT test results for 2025, one count per vehicle, by the postcode area of the test station. A postcode area is bigger than the zone itself, and a vehicle before the cut-off date is likely, though not certain, to miss the standard. Cars under 3 years old don’t take an MOT, so they aren’t in the count, and all of them meet the standard.
Exemptions and discounts
- National exemptions such as the disabled tax classes, applied for through GOV.UK
- Local exemptions for recovery vehicles, community transport and school transport
- Hospital visit vouchers for named hospitals inside the zone
Summarised from the operator’s pages. Most exemptions need an application before you travel.
What’s changing
Nothing announced. The council's January 2026 progress report said 5 locations were still above the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide and that it was modelling the zone's effect.
Questions
Do cars pay the Birmingham Clean Air Zone?
Yes. Birmingham's zone is Class D, so private cars pay a daily charge if they don't meet Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel. Most petrol cars from 2006 and diesels from late 2015 are fine.
Which vehicles does the Birmingham zone affect?
Cars, vans, taxis, buses, coaches and lorries that miss the standard. Motorcycles and mopeds aren't charged, and no vehicle is banned outright.
What standard does my vehicle need to meet in Birmingham?
Euro 4 for petrol and Euro 6 for diesel, the same as London's ULEZ. Motorcycles and mopeds aren't charged.
When did the Birmingham zone start?
Charging started on 1 June 2021. The exemptions for people working in the zone ended on 31 May 2022, and for residents on 31 May 2023.
How is the Birmingham zone enforced?
It's a daily charge, midnight to midnight. You can pay on GOV.UK up to 6 days before, on the day, or by 23:59 on the 6th day after; there's no automatic bill, so an unpaid charge becomes a penalty charge notice. The zone runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Birmingham City Council listed £8 a day for cars, taxis and vans and £50 for buses, coaches and lorries on 25 September 2026. The penalty for not paying was £120, cut to £60 if paid within 14 days.
Sources
- Brum Breathes: charges and operation
- Brum Breathes: daily charges and payment
- Brum Breathes: exemptions
- Birmingham City Council: a clean air zone for Birmingham
- GOV.UK: driving in a clean air zone
Rules checked against these pages on 25 Sep 2026. This site isn’t connected to Brum Breathes (Birmingham City Council); their site is the final word on who pays.