You and your family are living in rented accommodation in an English-speaking country. You are not satisfied with the condition of some of the furniture. Write a letter to the landlord. In your letter: - introduce yourself - explain what is wrong with the furniture - say what action you would like the landlord to take
Sample Response
Dear Mr Jones,
I am Elissa Gomez, a tenant inat your apartment on Lakeshire Avenueavenue, writing to inform you about the poor condition of a few pieces of furniture that require immediate fixing.
I, along with my husband and two young children, moved into flat 3Bmoved to your flat 3B last June, and I signed the rental agreement a week later. I have been living in this apartment for the last four months, and I like living here with my family. However, the dining table and the sofa set require immediate fixing as they are now a matter of concern for our peaceful living in this furnished apartment that we otherwise love so much.
The problem with the dining table is that it has uneven legs and two broken chairs. Besides, the sofa set is also very old and the cover needs to be replaced immediately. When I first pointed out those issues to youpointed those issues to you before moving into the apartment, you agreed to fix them by purchasing two new chairs and new covers for the sofa set while also calling a carpenter to work on these two pieces of furniture. However, nothing has been done so far.so far! I would really appreciate it if you could resolve these issuesif you resolve it as soonearly as possible.
Perhaps you can repair the uneven table and replace the sofa cover first and then fix the other issues a few days later. I believe this would solve the matter without costing you much while also allowing me to live comfortablyplacidly in your apartment.
I wish to hear a positive reply from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Elissa Gomez
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is purposeful, detailed, and professionally organized, with each requested point developed through specific furniture problems and realistic actions for the landlord. Its main weakness is occasional unnatural or imprecise phrasing, including overly emphatic repetition and collocations that do not sound fully idiomatic. The highest-priority improvement is to replace these expressions with concise, natural formal wording while retaining the clear paragraph structure and comprehensive task coverage.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fully achieves its purpose by introducing the tenant, explaining the furniture defects in detail, and proposing clear remedial action.
Make the request even more efficient by trimming background details that do not materially help the landlord understand or resolve the problem.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically grouped into clear paragraphs, and the progression from context to problems, prior agreement, and proposed solution is easy to follow.
Reduce repeated wording around “immediate fixing” so the otherwise smooth progression feels more economical.
Lexical Resource
A broad and generally precise formal vocabulary is used, though a few choices such as “peaceful living” and “live placidly” sound unnatural in context.
Prefer idiomatic phrases such as “comfortable living conditions” and “live comfortably,” and avoid unnecessary intensifiers.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a wide range of sentence structures with strong control, despite a small number of local grammatical lapses.
Polish conditional request forms, for example changing “I would appreciate it if you resolve it” to “I would appreciate it if you could resolve these issues.”
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You and your family are living in rented accommodation in an English-speaking country. You are not satisfied with the condition of some of the furniture. Write a letter to the landlord. In your letter:
- introduce yourself
- explain what is wrong with the furniture
- say what action you would like the landlord to take
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.