The housing shortage in big cities can cause severe social consequences. Some people think only government action can solve this problem.
Sample Response
The population in cities is constantly increasing, and thus housing crisis is a most common problem big cities are facing today. This is a major concern for governments as it not only increase the cost of living but also affects the quality of life for its residents. I do agree that only governments can solve this problem by taking various measures, such as restricting landed houses to save the space, encouraging vertical residential buildings and gradually expanding the city. In the olden days, people lived in landed independent houses as there were lots of spaces in the city. However, this is not possible in the modern cities as the city population is increasing rapidly, and resulting in a space shortage situation for accommodating housing for all. One of the action governments can take is to discourage building new landed houses and encourage people to live in apartment flats. For instance, Singapore government has built thousands of high-floor residential flats through housing development board to accommodate its ever-growing residents in an affordable way. It also stopped permission for building new landed houses to deal with the space crunch. Some governments are also looking at options for expanding the city to create more residential properties. For example, Bangalore, one of the fast growing cities in India is continuously expanding by incorporating more residential properties and other infrastructure at the outskirts of the city, which gradually becomes part of the growing city. However, this option is viable only when there are enough spaces surrounding the city. For cities like Hong-Kong and Singapore, which are islands, the only option is to grow vertically within the city. Solving housing shortage is an issue that requires proper planning and big investment and residence of a big city have very little to do and the government seems like the appropriate authority to solve this problem. In conclusion, the cities are growing rapidly and so the residents of the city also grow. Thus, it is the responsibility of governments to take appropriate measures to create better living place at an affordable price for its city residents.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the article Original: and thus housing crisis Suggested revision: and thus a housing crisis Why it matters: The singular count noun crisis requires an article.
- 2. Correct superlative structure Original: is a most common problem Suggested revision: is one of the most common problems Why it matters: The intended ranking requires one of the followed by a plural noun.
- 3. Fix subject-verb agreement Original: it not only increase Suggested revision: it not only increases Why it matters: The singular subject it requires the third-person singular verb increases.
- 4. Clarify the reference Original: for its residents Suggested revision: for city residents Why it matters: Its appears to refer to governments, so naming city residents removes the faulty reference.
- 5. Clarify what is restricted Original: restricting landed houses Suggested revision: restricting the construction of landed houses Why it matters: The policy would restrict construction rather than the houses themselves.
- 6. Remove unnecessary article Original: save the space Suggested revision: save space Why it matters: Space is used as an uncountable general concept here and does not need the.
- 7. Use standard term Original: vertical residential buildings Suggested revision: high-rise residential buildings Why it matters: High-rise is the conventional term for tall residential buildings.
- 8. Use uncountable noun Original: lots of spaces Suggested revision: a great deal of space Why it matters: Space is uncountable when referring generally to available land or room.
- 9. Remove unnecessary article Original: in the modern cities Suggested revision: in modern cities Why it matters: The general plural noun phrase does not take the definite article.
- 10. Repair participle clause Original: , and resulting in Suggested revision: , resulting in Why it matters: The participial result clause should not be joined with and in this construction.
- 11. Use concise collocation Original: a space shortage situation Suggested revision: a shortage of space Why it matters: The replacement is the standard and more concise expression.
- 12. Correct purpose phrase Original: for accommodating housing for all Suggested revision: to provide housing for everyone Why it matters: The infinitive construction expresses the intended purpose clearly and grammatically.
Suggested Rewrites
- and thus housing crisis and thus a housing crisis
- is a most common problem is one of the most common problems
- it not only increase it not only increases
- for its residents for city residents
- restricting landed houses restricting the construction of landed houses
- save the space save space
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response is strongest in proposing concrete government measures and illustrating them through relevant examples from Singapore and Bangalore, including a useful qualification about geographic limits on expansion. Its main limitation is that the single-paragraph presentation weakens organisation and the claim that only government can solve the shortage is asserted without seriously considering developers, employers, communities, or market incentives. The highest-priority improvement is to evaluate those other actors before demonstrating why government coordination remains indispensable.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
The response presents a clear opinion and develops several relevant government solutions with specific examples, though the exclusivity of government action receives limited evaluation.
Consider what private developers or residents can contribute and explain why regulation, infrastructure, funding, or coordination still makes government action decisive.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas have a clear overall progression from the problem to vertical development and urban expansion, but the absence of paragraphing makes the discussion dense.
Separate the introduction, vertical-building solution, expansion solution, evaluation of government responsibility, and conclusion into purposeful paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a suitable range of housing and urban-development vocabulary, but several inaccurate collocations and word forms reduce precision.
Refine phrases such as “landed independent houses,” “high-floor residential flats,” and “residence of a big city” into natural forms.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of structures is attempted, but recurring errors in agreement, articles, plurals, relative clauses, and sentence construction limit accuracy.
Check subject-verb agreement and noun number systematically, especially in sentences about governments, populations, actions, and residents.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The housing shortage in big cities can cause severe social consequences. Some people think only government action can solve this problem.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.