In some countries, people prefer to rent a house than buy one. What are the advantages and disadvantages of renting a property?
Sample Response
In many countries, people still prefer to own their homes. However, many people prefer to rent rather than possess in the more developed countries because of affordability, property taxes, and maintenance expenses. Many people are migrating for jobs. Accordingly, it does not make much sense for them to stay anchored to a particular location by securing property there.
To start with, purchasing a property requires a great deal of money and the skyrocketing price in big cities makes it impossible for many to own a home for many people. As a result, these people naturally rent an apartment or condo, or studios. There are certain advantages to living in a rented apartment. First of all, the person does not have to pay a considerable sum of money at a time and does not need to deliver housing taxes and bear maintenance costs. Moreover, such people can change their living place based on the location of their workplace and children’s school. The renovation of the place is the landlord’s responsibility, and the tenants do not require to worry about it.
Alternatively, the real beneficiary is the house owner. There is no solidity as the person has to move from one place to another after the expiration of the lease contract. Consequently, it increases the expenditure of packing and moving to other sites. Moreover, the person who leases the area has to bear restrictions, such as not modifying the place according to their requirements and prohibition on keeping a pet.
There are both advantages and drawbacks of rental accommodation in equivalent proportion to recapitulate. Though it lessens the expense of maintenance, in some cases, it leads to a reduced sense of home security.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Name the object Original: rent rather than possess Suggested revision: rent rather than own a home Why it matters: Possess requires a stated object and is less natural than own a home in this comparison.
- 2. Remove unnecessary article Original: in the more developed countries Suggested revision: in more developed countries Why it matters: The general plural phrase more developed countries does not require the definite article.
- 3. Clarify affordability Original: because of affordability Suggested revision: because renting is more affordable Why it matters: The revision specifies what is affordable and makes the causal claim clear.
- 4. Use direct wording Original: stay anchored to a particular location by securing property there Suggested revision: be tied to one location by buying property there Why it matters: The revision expresses the same idea more directly and uses the precise verb buying.
- 5. Make list consistent Original: an apartment or condo, or studios Suggested revision: an apartment, a condo, or a studio Why it matters: The coordinated singular alternatives need consistent articles and number.
- 6. Use precise timing Original: at a time Suggested revision: up front Why it matters: Up front more precisely describes paying a large purchase amount initially.
- 7. Use correct collocation Original: deliver housing taxes Suggested revision: pay property taxes Why it matters: English uses pay with taxes, and property taxes is the standard term here.
- 8. Use natural expression Original: change their living place Suggested revision: move home Why it matters: Move home is the natural expression for changing one's place of residence.
- 9. Use concise gerund Original: The renovation of the place Suggested revision: Renovating the property Why it matters: The gerund phrase states the responsibility more naturally and concisely.
- 10. Correct verb pattern Original: require Suggested revision: need Why it matters: Require does not take this personal infinitive construction, whereas need to does.
- 11. Signal contrast accurately Original: Alternatively Suggested revision: However Why it matters: However correctly introduces a contrasting disadvantage rather than an alternative choice.
- 12. Express instability clearly Original: There is no solidity Suggested revision: Tenants lack stability Why it matters: Solidity is not the natural term for security of residence in this context.
Suggested Rewrites
- rent rather than possess rent rather than own a home
- in the more developed countries in more developed countries
- because of affordability because renting is more affordable
- stay anchored to a particular location by securing property there be tied to one location by buying property there
- an apartment or condo, or studios an apartment, a condo, or a studio
- at a time up front
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay addresses both sides of renting with a clear structure and several relevant points, especially affordability, mobility, housing restrictions, and moving costs. Development is generally effective, but some claims remain brief and a number of unnatural expressions reduce precision. The highest-priority improvement is to explain the disadvantages more fully while replacing awkward collocations with direct, idiomatic wording.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both advantages and disadvantages are relevantly covered, although the disadvantages receive slightly less explanation and some points could be extended.
Develop each drawback with a clearer explanation of its practical effect on tenants.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through a clear introduction, separate discussions of benefits and drawbacks, and a concise conclusion.
Strengthen transitions within the disadvantages paragraph so that each point builds naturally on the preceding one.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a good range of topic vocabulary, but several collocations such as deliver housing taxes and no solidity are unnatural.
Choose conventional property-related expressions and check that less familiar words fit their intended context.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of simple and complex sentences is used with generally clear meaning, despite recurring agreement, article, and construction errors.
Edit complex sentences for accurate agreement and remove redundant constructions such as repeated references to many people.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In some countries, people prefer to rent a house than buy one. What are the advantages and disadvantages of renting a property?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.