In some countries, owning a home rather than renting one is very important for people. Why might this be the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?
Sample Response
Many people today value owning their own home over renting. In my opinion, this is part of a natural human desire for security and prestige but home ownership involves risksit contains risks.
The source of this desire is a need for stability and respect. An individual who does not own their own home must pay rent to a landlord. This hangs over them and necessitates maintaining a job with a steady salary and balancing rent against other living expenses. Once a person owns their own home, they are ablethey are then able to spend their money more freely and consider different employment optionsconsider different employment without fear of becoming homelesswithout the fear of becoming homeless. Moreover, having a home lends an air of respectability. Only the wealthy are able to buyare able buy a house and most homeowners take pride in the size and condition of their home as a sign of their social standing.
Nonetheless, home ownership is a negative trend as it placesforces unrealistic expectations on millions. Most people live in rented city apartmentscity apartments with rents and are not capable of buying a house. The pressure to buy one is likely to engender feelings of inadequacy and resentment towards the upper classes. This famously fueled the sub-prime mortgage scandals of the early 2000s in the United States when millions borrowed more than they could afford to buy homes, then defaulted on their payments and lost their lifetime investmentslost a lifetime of investment. Had these same people opted to rent, they could have saved more money and investedwould have saved more money and could have invested in other forms of capital such as the stock market.
In conclusion, owning a home is innately desirable but ultimately causesin the end causes more harm than good due to the pressure it places on individuals. Many people have learned this lesson and home ownership may begin to decline in the future.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response gives a direct answer to both questions, develops the motives for home ownership convincingly, and supports its negative evaluation with a specific, relevant example. The main limitation is a small amount of overgeneralisation and a few minor language slips within otherwise precise writing. The highest-priority improvement is to qualify broad claims about wealth and housing access so the reasoning becomes more balanced and defensible.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both questions are fully addressed through well-developed explanations of security, status, social pressure, and financial risk.
Qualify categorical claims such as only wealthy people being able to buy homes to make the argument more nuanced.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay is logically sequenced, each paragraph has a clear function, and cohesion supports the argument without drawing attention to itself.
Tighten the transition from the introductory reference to risks into the explicitly negative evaluation developed later.
Lexical Resource
A broad and precise vocabulary conveys abstract economic and social ideas naturally, with only isolated awkward wording.
Refine minor phrases such as city apartments with rents so every expression is fully idiomatic.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are varied and accurately controlled across the response, with only rare minor errors that do not impede meaning.
Proofread for isolated omissions, particularly the missing to in able to buy, while preserving the existing structural range.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In some countries, owning a home rather than renting one is very important for people. Why might this be the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.