You paid a refundable deposit when you rented an apartment. You left the apartment in good condition but the Landlord won't return your deposit. Write a letter to the landlord. In your letter: - explain why you are writing - ask for the return of your deposit - inform the landlord of possible legal action
Sample Response
Dear Mr. Coleman, I am writing to request the return of the £800 deposit that I paid to you before rentingbefore I rented No. 21, Britannia Court for the month of April. When I telephoned your office, I was toldoffice I was told that you do not intendare not intending to repay this money and I am unable to understand the reason for this. When I signed the rental agreement, it wasagreement it was my understanding that the deposit would be returned if the apartment was vacated cleandean and undamaged. This was the condition of the flat when I returned the keys. I cleaned the whole apartment and there were no breakages or damageand no damage to fittings or furniture. I believe that I have kept to the terms of the agreement and therefore I respectfully request that my deposit be repaid in full. I shall have no alternative but to seek legal advice if we are unable to resolve this matter satisfactorilyin a satisfactory manner. Yours sincerely, Steve Chapman
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is highly effective in stating the problem, justifying the refund request with specific evidence, and communicating possible legal action in a controlled formal tone. The main weakness is the lack of paragraph breaks, with one obvious spelling slip slightly reducing an otherwise polished response. Separate the context, supporting condition details, and requested resolution into clear paragraphs, and proofread for isolated errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully achieves its purpose by explaining the dispute, explicitly requesting repayment, and warning of legal action in an appropriately firm register.
Add a clear deadline for repayment to make the requested resolution even more actionable.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message follows a clear sequence from the deposit dispute through supporting evidence to the requested remedy and possible escalation.
Divide the letter into distinct paragraphs for the background, the apartment's condition, and the final request.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise and suitably formal, with effective expressions for the agreement, property condition, repayment, and legal escalation.
Maintain this precise register while proofreading for isolated slips such as dean in place of clean.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Sentence structures are varied, controlled, and consistently clear, including accurate conditional and passive constructions.
Preserve this level of control while using paragraph boundaries and a final proofread to eliminate minor surface errors.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You paid a refundable deposit when you rented an apartment. You left the apartment in good condition but the Landlord won't return your deposit. Write a letter to the landlord. In your letter:
- explain why you are writing
- ask for the return of your deposit
- inform the landlord of possible legal action
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.