Some people prefer to rent a house for accommodation, while others prefer to buy their own house. Does renting a house have more advantages or disadvantages than buying a house?
Sample Response
Choosing a place to live in, and whether to rent or own it is a major decision. Many people prefer to own a house rather than to live in a rented apartment while others choose to do exactly the opposite. Both have their own benefits and demerits. However, I believe that owning a house has far more advantages than renting an apartment.
To commence with, people often rent a house because purchasing a property requires a huge sum of money and the skyrocketing property prices in big cities make it impossible for many to own a house. These people naturally rent an apartment. There are certain advantages to living in a rented apartment. First of all, the person does not have to pay a large amount of money or pay housing taxes and bear the costs of maintenance. Moreover, such people can change their living places based on the location of their workplace and children’s school. The renovation of the apartment is the landlord’s responsibility, and the tenants do not need to worry about it.
On the contrary, owning a house gives a sense of personal achievement that tenants cannot enjoy. A house is a permanent asset, and over time, its price increases giving the owner a substantial return on the investment. The landlord can rent out the house to others and this can be a steady source of earnings for him or her. Furthermore, being the owner of a house means there is no one over the shoulder to watch what someone is doing and no sudden notice of evacuation. For instance, we had to vacate our apartment all of a sudden at least thrice until we purchased our own house a decade earlier. This is some sort of freedom that only houseowners enjoy.
To conclude, renting a flat has some benefits but the overall freedom and monetary compensations house owners enjoy are far more significant, and this is why every tenant dreams of owning a house someday.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use parallel verb forms Original: rather than to live Suggested revision: rather than live Why it matters: After “prefer to own,” the alternative takes the bare infinitive in the “rather than” construction.
- 2. Use parallel formal terms Original: benefits and demerits Suggested revision: advantages and disadvantages Why it matters: The paired terms are more natural and consistent with the comparison in the essay.
- 3. Use a natural opener Original: commence Suggested revision: begin Why it matters: “To begin with” is the conventional transition for introducing the first point.
- 4. Use formal wording Original: huge Suggested revision: large Why it matters: “Large” is more neutral and appropriate for formal academic prose.
- 5. Use measured wording Original: skyrocketing property prices Suggested revision: rapidly rising property prices Why it matters: The revision retains the meaning while using a less dramatic academic expression.
- 6. Use a clear general noun Original: the person does not have Suggested revision: a tenant does not have Why it matters: “A tenant” identifies the person precisely and uses the appropriate indefinite article.
- 7. Specify the upfront cost Original: pay a large amount of money Suggested revision: pay a large upfront sum Why it matters: The revision distinguishes the initial purchase cost from the later taxes and maintenance costs.
- 8. Use natural phrasing Original: change their living places Suggested revision: move home Why it matters: “Move home” is the conventional expression for changing residence.
- 9. Match the plural reference Original: school Suggested revision: schools Why it matters: The plural possessive “children’s” refers generally to multiple children and their schools.
- 10. Use the correct contrast Original: On the contrary Suggested revision: By contrast Why it matters: “By contrast” introduces the advantages of the alternative option without directly contradicting a claim.
- 11. Add the participial comma Original: its price increases giving Suggested revision: its price increases, giving Why it matters: A comma is required before the supplementary participial phrase.
- 12. Use natural wording Original: earnings Suggested revision: income Why it matters: “Source of income” is the standard collocation for regular rental revenue.
Suggested Rewrites
- rather than to live rather than live
- benefits and demerits advantages and disadvantages
- commence begin
- huge large
- skyrocketing property prices rapidly rising property prices
- the person does not have a tenant does not have
Why this response received Band 7.5
The essay gives a clear comparative judgement and develops practical financial, mobility, maintenance, investment, and housing-security considerations, including an effective personal example. Its strongest feature is the balanced progression from renting’s benefits to ownership’s stronger advantages. The main limitation is occasional imprecise or unnatural wording; prioritise explicitly framing ownership benefits as corresponding rental disadvantages and using accurate housing terms such as ‘eviction notice’ and ‘rental income’.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
The question is directly answered through a clear judgement and well-developed comparison of financial, practical, investment, and security factors.
Make the comparison still more explicit by stating how the absence of equity and insecure tenure are disadvantages of renting rather than only benefits of ownership.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically paragraphed and progresses clearly from rental benefits to stronger ownership benefits and a consistent conclusion.
Replace ‘On the contrary’ with a more accurate comparative transition and tighten repeated references to renting and owning a house.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally effective for housing and finance, though several choices are unnatural or semantically imprecise.
Prefer ‘rental income’, ‘eviction notice’, ‘homeowners’, ‘financial returns’, and ‘move home’ over the less natural expressions used.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A useful range of complex structures is generally controlled, with occasional punctuation, article, reference, and phrasing errors that do not impede meaning.
Add the missing comma before ‘giving’, clarify pronoun reference, and revise the time phrase in the personal example to ‘before we bought our home ten years ago’.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people prefer to rent a house for accommodation, while others prefer to buy their own house. Does renting a house have more advantages or disadvantages than buying a house?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.