There are severe social consequences to housing shortages in cities and only the government can solve these problems. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Today, there are many countries where severe housing shortages are widespreadrampant housing shortages are commonplace. In this essay, I argue that these shortages resultthis results in a host of societal issues, and that the government should try toand alleviate this problem.
Firstly, I argue that housing shortages result in slowerlower economic growth. People who do not have homes are more likely to suffer from the anxiety of having to pay monthly rent, while homeless people would also be unable to get jobs. This is because, for the former groupThis is because for the former group, owning a house to support retirementowning a house as a way of retiring is out of the question, while for the latter, most companies do not hire people who do not have a house. Therefore, people in both groups might turnthese people might turn to crime or other antisocial activities to survivein order to survive. Thus, there are large sections of society that can be utilised, but are denied opportunities due to the housing crisis.
Thus, I argueThus I argue that the government should step in and solve the problem. While people might arguehold that this should be done by the private sector, I contendI contend conversely that this would simply lead to individuals buying up houses and worsening housing shortagesdriving up housing shortages again. Therefore, the government should use taxpayers’ moneytaxpayer’s money to provide adequate, affordable housinggood and affordable housing. Examples of this policy can be found in Austria and SingaporeAn example where this is already done is in Austria and Singapore, where citizens are virtually guaranteed housingvirtually guaranteed a house by the government, with those who have money paying for private accommodationaccomodation if they want.
Therefore, I believe that there are many social costs to a lack of housing, and the government rather than corporate entities should step in.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response maintains a clear position and organizes its argument logically, with a relevant comparison between government provision and private-sector action. The main limitation is uneven reasoning: the link between housing shortages and lower economic growth is only partly demonstrated, and some claims about renters, homelessness, and employment are overgeneralized. The highest-priority improvement is to develop each causal link more precisely and support it with well-chosen evidence.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response answers the question directly, sustains its position, and develops relevant social and governmental arguments.
Explain the claimed economic consequences more rigorously and distinguish the circumstances of renters from those of homeless people.
Coherence and Cohesion
The paragraph sequence is logical and the central argument remains easy to follow from introduction to conclusion.
Use fewer repetitive result linkers and make the internal progression of the first body paragraph more explicit.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is varied and appropriate for discussing housing policy, social consequences, and public provision.
Refine imprecise or awkward combinations such as driving up housing shortages and proofread spelling carefully.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of complex sentences is handled with generally secure control, and errors rarely distract from meaning.
Polish article, possessive, and clause choices in longer comparisons to make the expression consistently natural.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
There are severe social consequences to housing shortages in cities and only the government can solve these problems. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.