Private hire drivers licensed in Greater Manchester are being offered fresh financial support to help them move to cleaner, lower-emission vehicles, under a new scheme approved by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
The Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) Support Fund gives eligible owners a choice between a £5,000 interest-free loan or a £1,000 non-repayable grant towards the cost of switching to a compliant vehicle. It sits alongside the existing £8 million Hackney Support Fund already helping black cab owners make the same switch, with over 190 drivers having applied and more than £1.5 million in non-repayable grants approved to date under that scheme.
The new fund follows a three-month engagement between Transport for Greater Manchester and the taxi trade, in which drivers asked for more support to upgrade their vehicles. Around one in ten private hire vehicles currently licensed in Greater Manchester — roughly 1,300 cars — don’t yet meet the region’s emission standards, which are due to take effect from 31 December 2026.
Mayor Andy Burnham and other GM leaders have described the approach as “investment-led”, aiming to support drivers through the transition rather than penalise those who haven’t yet upgraded. The fund forms part of a wider push to improve air quality across the city-region without resorting to a charging Clean Air Zone.
If you’re weighing up whether an upgrade makes financial sense, DriverMatty’s Uber Earnings Calculator can help you work out how a change in running costs might affect your take-home pay.
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