ULTRA-LOW interest rates have created a unique environment where buying a house in many areas is cheaper than paying rent on one, according to new findings.

Pete Wargent, the co-founder of BuyersBuyers.com.au, an online marketplace offering affordable buyer’s agency services for all Australians, said first homebuyers were now weighing up the rent versus buy equation given the lowest borrowing rates on record.

“There are some uncertainties in the economy, but for those with access to a deposit, a reasonable level of employment security, and a sensible buffer, then it has become a compelling equation in many locations,” Mr. Wargent said.

“At BuyersBuyers.com.au we are seeing increasing levels of enquiries from first-time buyers, reflecting the change in borrowing rates and government incentives."

In many areas, rent money is dead money, according to RiskWise CEO Doron Peleg. Mr Peleg said renters with secure jobs were better off buying a house than to continue paying someone else’s mortgage.

“When it comes to houses, the preferred dwelling option in most areas of the country, in many cases it is cheaper to buy than rent, and rent money is dead money. Whereas, if you buy a house you can start building equity straight away, particularly when you take a long-term strategic view, and if you are in a good position to negotiate well and buy a ‘Grade A’ property that will serve your family to many years to come,” he said.

“Our research shows that interest-only repayments for both owner-occupiers and investors are lower than the annual rental cost in most of the 88 areas at the statistical area level 4 (i.e. SA4s). Therefore, funding costs are now lower than rental payments across all states and territories.

“And, except for Sydney and Melbourne, in all other states and territories, even the principal and interest repayments are lower than the annual rent, assuming that you have a 20 per cent deposit.

“No interest rate rises are expected in the foreseeable future and the intense competition between the banks is only going to intensify, meaning that buyers are in a very strong position to continue enjoying ultra-low interest rates.”

Mr Peleg said the biggest savings were in the capital cities where rental returns were the highest.

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TAX PRACTITIONERS now have access to extended COVID-19 concessions to assist them to meet their registration and renewal requirements during the pandemic.

In addition to the existing extension of the annual declaration concession to December 31, 2020, other Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) COVID-19 initiatives have been extended as follows:

• continued professional education (CPE) (private reading and activities) concessions to be extended to 31 December 2020
• renewal concession to continue to June 30, 2021
• relevant experience concession to continue to June 30, 2021.

TPB chair, Ian Klug, said the concessions reflect the board’s commitment to assisting tax practitioners who are experiencing a range of changed business circumstances during this time.

"Given the COVID-19 related challenges during the year, we have been swift to relax regulatory requirements, including annual declarations, registrations and CPE requirements," Mr Klug said.

"The TPB is committed to continuing to provide support and to be pragmatic in recognition of the broad range of impacts of the pandemic on tax practitioners and their clients.

"While some are experiencing increased demand for their services, others may have less work and therefore, less relevant experience, and may need to access both self-care resources by the way of the CPE concession, and possibly fee deferrals.

"These extensions to the original concessions announced by the TPB in March are intended to provide tax practitioners with additional reassurance that their health and well-being is our number one priority,’ he said.

"We encourage tax practitioners to contact the TPB if they are encountering difficulties in meeting their TPB obligations so that we can consider their individual circumstances and work with them to find an appropriate outcome."

Mr Klug said the concessional arrangements are in line with a whole-of-government approach to managing the pandemic and its broad impacts on the community.

Resources highlighting support for tax practitioners during COVID-19 are available here.

More information on the impact of the concessions on tax practitioners is available here.

About the Tax Practitioners Board

The Tax Practitioners Board regulates tax practitioners in order to protect consumers. The TPB aims to assure the community that tax practitioners meet appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct. Follow us on Twitter @TPB_gov_au, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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THE RELEASE today of two reports by the Energy Security Board (ESB) and the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) into the future of the National Electricity Market has been welcomed by Energy Networks Australia.

The ESB Post-2025 Market Design Consultation Paper and the AEMC report on the Coordination of Generation and Transmission Investment (COGATI) are important inputs to help guide the sector's transformation.

"The future energy sector will not be able to operate using current rules and frameworks; it is the time to think ahead for change," Energy Networks CEO Andrew Dillon said.

"The ESB is taking a coordinated look at how the energy market would operate post-2025 when distributed energy resources and renewable generation will have disrupted traditional wholesale markets.

"Future markets will be built on a transmission superhighway with better connections between and across states, as well as local distribution grids that are fast becoming the platforms to allow greater participation from customers.”

Mr Dillon said smarter pricing signals would be important to ensuring higher levels of distributed energy resources could be integrated into the system while keeping costs as low as possible for all customers.

"Many significant reforms are contemplated in these documents and some – like pricing reforms – should proceed," he said.

"However, it's absolutely critical that realistic cost-benefit analyses are undertaken to ensure the reforms that go ahead – and that customers end up paying for – deliver real value.

"In recent times, we have seen examples where either the costs (five-minute settlement) or the benefits (metering competition) have not been good news for customers.

"Governments and regulators also have major roles to play. Avoiding unnecessary interventions and ensuring investible frameworks with reasonable returns are key to unlocking the many billions of dollars of private investment the sector needs over the coming decades.”

Mr Dillon said Energy Networks looked forward to working with the ESB and the AEMC on these critical reforms.

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NESTLE and Australian recycler iQ Renew today announced the next steps in a trial which will see soft plastics collected through kerbside recycling and diverted from landfill.

The trial will commence with 2,000 households on the NSW Central Coast, with plans to extend it to around 140,000 homes.

With the vast majority of post-consumer soft plastic going to landfill, the trial aims to find ways to collect household soft plastic and turn it into a resource. 

Participating households will collect their clean soft plastics in a purpose-made bright yellow ‘Curby’ bag, then when the bag is full, tie it up, tag it and place it in their yellow recycling bin for pick up with their regular recycling collection. 

Tags will identify the bags and help to improve the sorting process, ensuring they can be separated from other recyclables. The soft plastics will then be shredded and become a resource for use in other plastic products, chemical recycling and energy recovery.

iQ Renew CEO Danial Gallagher said the trial aimed to test how collecting and processing soft plastics could be scaled up. 

“We are delighted to partner with Nestlé and launch the Curby soft plastic recovery solution on the Central Coast. By piloting the Curby solution, residents of the Central Coast will help demonstrate that preventing soft plastic ending up in landfill is not only possible, but simple and highly achievable,” Mr Gallagher said.

“The trial will help answer a few questions – how will the community adopt this? Can we keep loose plastics out of other recyclables? Will the bags survive the truck? Can we use regular shopping bags?

“We’ve been testing ways to separate and recover soft plastic from other items in household recycling, which is challenging for sorting facilities. This trial will allow us to test that at larger scale, with the hope of bringing much needed recycling innovation to all Australians,” he said.

Mr Gallagher said that as the trial rolled out, it is important that people not participating in the trial continue to use return to store programs for their soft plastics.

Nestlé Australia CEO Sandra Martinez said with soft plastics making up 30 percent of the plastic packaging used in Australia, the company wanted to be part of finding new approaches to boosting recycling soft plastic packaging.

“While Nestlé wants to reduce its use of virgin plastics and increase our use of recycled packaging, this won’t happen without robust collection, sorting and processing systems. Experience in Australia and round the world shows that people are more likely to recycle when it’s easy to access, and that kerbside is most successful,” Ms Martinez said. 

Ms Martinez said since the trial was first announced at the National Plastics Summit in March, the company had had many approaches from the waste and recycling industries, local governments, packaging manufacturers and other companies making packaged goods wanting to know more.

“We already know Australians want better access to recycling for their soft plastics. Seeing this enthusiasm shared by so many is encouraging, as collective action by those with a shared vision for a waste free future will be critical to solving this complex challenge at scale.”

Central Coast Council’s director roads transport and drainage, Boris Bolgoff said, "The Council is excited to be piloting new ways to recover soft plastics, using existing services and facilities at no additional cost.

“Right now more than half of Central Coast residents’ household waste is sent to landfill, with soft plastics being common due to difficulties in separating it from other types of waste and recyclables and limited markets for the product,” Mr Bolgoff said. 

“Soft plastics not only pollute our land but they also cause significant damage to our environment and marine life – which is something our residents value immensely.”

Residents in the Central Coast Council area can sign up to be part of the initial phase of the trial at curbythebilby.com.au

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