Cost is often cited as one of the main barriers to repair. ReLondon’s circular economy advisor Rachel Singer explains how the North London Repair Voucher Scheme is helping make repair more affordable and accessible for Londoners’ electrical and electronic items.
With a new gadget, a sleeker design, and a faster model coming onto the market every week, it’s no surprise that Londoners have fallen out of sync with their electrical and electronic items. It’s estimated that 880 million old or unused products are stashed away in drawers and cupboards across the UK, while over 100,000 tonnes of electricals are thrown away each year. Sadly, almost 50% of the items sent for recycling could have been reused or only needed minor repairs.
Cumulatively, this has a negative impact. Electricals contain valuable materials such as gold, aluminium and copper and can pose a major threat to the environment and human health if they aren’t disposed of properly. There are also huge financial implications. In 2023 alone, Londoners binned £1.9 billion of repairable electricals and spent an average of over £450 per person replacing damaged or broken items that could have been repaired.
Repair is a powerful intervention. Not only does it help to keep items in use for much longer, but it also helps to avoid the impacts associated with new purchases. Critically, Londoners also increasingly want to repair – with 26% of Londoners claiming that they already do and an additional 62% saying that they would consider it.
So why then isn’t repair happening at large? Research suggests that one of the key reasons is cost. To help break down barriers and ensure that more Londoners have access to local repair services, ReLondon teamed up with the Restart Project and the North London Waste Authority to run the North London Voucher Scheme – the UK’s first electronic repair voucher pilot.
Why vouchers?
Repair voucher schemes are increasingly being trialled in cities and countries around the world, and it’s easy to see why! They are a great way to reduce waste while supporting residents through the cost-of-living crisis alongside high street businesses.
Many international trials have seen impressive results, effectively increasing the number of repairs taking place. The Upper Austrian regional trial, for example, found that 40% of recipients wouldn’t have chosen repair without a voucher in the first place and 80% of repair businesses experienced an increase in demand – even after the trial ended!
The launch of the North London Repair Voucher trial is a huge milestone for the UK. Polling conducted by The Restart Project found that 79% of the UK public supports the idea of a government-backed repair voucher scheme, and this trial will provide insights into the city’s repair landscape and citizen behaviours that will help to pave the way to making London a global repair capital.
The North London Repair Voucher scheme
The North London Repair Voucher scheme was officially launched in April 2025 and was funded by the North London Waste Authority’s Community Fund. This scheme provides residents in North London (Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest) 50% off (up to £50) the cost of repairing their household electrical and electronic items at participating local businesses.
We’re only a few months into the pilot, but initial results suggest that:
- There is strong citizen appetite for vouchers: so far, there have been over 600 applications submitted across north London with the top requested product categories being laptops (13%), smartphones (12%), vacuums (12%) and lamps (10%).
- This scheme is an effective support for low-income populations: 55% of applicants who disclosed their income reported an annual household income below £40,000 – almost a quarter (23%) reported under £15,000.
- Vouchers are an effective way to capture stored items: 60% of citizens’ items have been broken for over a month, with a quarter kept for over a year.
- The scheme helps to avoid waste and capture value: 61% of applicants would have recycled (23%), binned (21%), or stored (17%) their broken items rather than try repair.
The scheme is set to continue until September 2025. Insights will continue to be gathered throughout, with the results expected to be shared in early 2026.
Get involved
If you live in North London, apply for a repair voucher at londonrepairvouchers.co.uk. You’ll receive a QR code (that you can show on your phone or print out) and use at a participating high street repair shop. Customers receive their discount at payment and the businesses claim back the cost.
Please help us spread the word and share your experience on social media using the hashtag #ShareYourRepair. You can also encourage North London repair shops to get involved by asking them to join the scheme.
Have ideas about how repair vouchers could be delivered in the future? ReLondon are also working with London Councils to assess the feasibility of a pan-London repair voucher scheme for electricals and textiles. To inform this work, a series of stakeholder engagements will be held over the coming months. Please reach out to Rachel Singer (rachel.singer@relondon.gov.uk) to learn more and get involved!
What else can local authorities do?
Local authorities can play a big role in making repair the first port of call for all Londoners. Take a look at the list below for some ideas of where to start:
Reduce the cost of repair:
Facilitate a Restart repair party or repair café to offer citizens low or no cost repair services or subsidise the cost of repair through a repair voucher scheme.
Promote the importance of repair:
Provide opportunities for people to learn more about repair. Get involved or promote campaigns such as Repair Week, and connect with universities and colleges to develop further education programmes and initiatives.
Improve access to repair services:
Support high-street repair services, such as subsidising business rates (e.g. Sutton Go Green).
Improve awareness of repair:
Promote existing repair maps and search tools (e.g. London Recycles’ repair directory) and signpost at-home device repair services that increase the convenience of repair (e.g. Repatch).
Improve access to tools and knowledge sharing:
Raise awareness of toolkits and repair guides to give Londoners confidence to repair at home (e.g. iFixit toolkits); signpost to manufacturers’ remote diagnostic services; set up or promote a local Library of Things; and develop, offer and subsidise adult learning courses in electrical repair through digital skills hubs.
