IELTS General Writing: a task 2 example

Let's have a look at a writing task 2 question from a recent 'General' test:

Some people prefer renting than buying a home. What are the advantages and disadvantages of renting your home?

The question above might seem a little different from the task 2 questions that I normally use here on the blog. However, my advice is exactly the same as usual:

- Spend up to 10 minutes planning your essay structure and ideas.
- Write 4 paragraphs, containing a total of 13 sentences.

Maybe you can help me plan some ideas for this question by suggesting some advantages and disadvantages of renting.

Comments

[maja]

Hello Simon,

Here are some of my ideas:

Disadvantages:
1. If something breaks down in the house, you'll have to call your landlord to fix it. This might be time-consuming and annoying
2. For every change you would like to make in the house or apartment you need consent from your landlord. ( For example,painting the walls in different color)
3. You pay the rent every month, and in the end the peace of real estate is not yours. It is therefore better to borrow money from a bank and to pay a monthly mortgage payment.

Advantages of renting home:
1. It is convenient, especially for younger people, if they have to move to another city or country because of job.
2. You do not have to invest in refurbishment works, you just rent the place you like
3. No maintenance costs or repair bills, no real estate taxes
4. Flexibility to downsize

[Jimmy]

Hi Simon, here is my ideas:

Advantages of renting a house:
1. no need to pay a large amount of money to buy a house / no need to worry about borrowed money from bank or relatives. -> using that money instead for studying or travelling

2. more flexibility/ easier to move nearby a workplace

3. some people do not want to spend too much time and energy to take care of the house


Disadvantages of renting a house:
1. impossible to decorate/ design the house as favoured

2. depend on the landlord regulations, such as limited numbers of members or the length of renting time -> so unstable life

3. (here in Vietnam) renting-home-people have to pay higher price for electric and water use, and sometimes it's hard to find a room in crowded cities.

[richa]

Advantages :

in particular, people need not to worry about the problems that can come to the house that need fixing as landlord will tackle these issues and resolve them like plumbing , wiring , sewage and painting. Further more, it gives people the flexibility to move in case of a new job or studies to other city or place and every time you get a new renovated home.

Alternately, there are various disadvantages to the above approach. Looking at the broader picture, the amount people pay for rent can be paid as loan instalments and can have an asset for lifetime. Moreover, having own house gives the freedom of decorating or designing according to ones wish and requires no permission from anyone. Adding to this, people make many memories with the house. Staying at the same house for years from childhood till youth and marriage gives nostalgic memories with the place and neighbourhood.

[richa]

HI Simon,

I have a doubt that what can be the conclusion of this type of essay. It has not asked for opinion so if in conclusion we say in my onion then it will be wrong.
A sample conclusion example :

To summarise, there are both advantages and disadvantages to the approach of renting the house rather than buying and it depends on one's personal preference, what is more favourable to them.

Thanks :)

[Rio]

Benefits of renting a house:
1. Renting usually cheaper than paying a mortgage.
2. You are not responsible for maintenance costs.
3. You have more flexibility to move.
4. If property prices fall, you won't lose money.

Drawbacks of renting a house:
1. Cannot do any renovations without permission.
2. You won't be able to make a financial investment in the long term.
3. You will have to follow some certain obligations from landlord.
4. Landlord can ask you to leave at any moment.

[Tracy]

advantages and disadvantages of renting:

advantages:
1.You would not be bothered by some annoying problems such as leak and a decline in house value,which are what the landlord has to worry about.

2.It could prevent us from getting stuck in horrible neighbors or financial crisis.

disadvantages:
1.There might be plenty of rules to comply with,for example,you can not decorate the house as you wish or your friends can not stay overnight without permission.

2.Elders might have to pay an unreasonable rent as a result of not being welcomed by landlords.

[Hieu]

It is true that a majority of people have to rent a house for their living. This phenomenon has been had both benefits and drawbacks.

On the on hand, hiring a house may be a moderate solution. Firstly, this enable the life of tenants to be in comfort. When they make a living in a cosmopolitan city, where the cost of renting a house are likely to be more reasonable than that of buying a house, the hirer also have more opportunities for receiving advanced services such as healthcare systems, education for children or entertainment. Secondly, a renting house would increase the quality of life. In comparison with building a house, which individuals find difficulty to equip their house with full and modern facilities, a hiring house allows the renter to live in a fully furnished apartment. For example, Vietnamese young couples, who have just married and working in industrial zones, tend to seek apartments for rent with modern facilities for living instead of buying a flat.

On the other hand, someone who rents a house also confront with several drawbacks. The first disadvantage is that they might be put under the pressure of financial problems. It is no doubt that dwelling expenses have significant impact on the income of renters. This causes current concern to people, which may influent to their mental health. Another drawback is that the life of the tenant are likely to increase the risk of losing properties. Tenants, who live far from hometown, tend to leave the renting house for a long period time in vacations. Therefore, those events facilitate criminals to commit crimes.

In conclusion, although hiring a house have many benefits, this also brings a number of drawbacks.

[Kami]

Hiring a home is taken into account beneficial these days. However, upsides and downsides will be come in eyes of specialists.

The more someone has experienced different places to live, the merrier they are. That is why many sustain changing their flat in favour of having more varieties when it comes to place of living. Also, paying less money for a home, some figure out living in different apartments. Needless to say renting a large home including a yard is even less challenging. For instance, young couples being married recently or working-class families would rather rent a block, seeing that they more likely are in tight budget.

“You must lie on the bed you have made”. Although renting might have its own privileges, some negative points ought to be tackled. Firstly, those renting a condo do not completely owe that home. Secondly, under no circumstances can they fail to remember to pay monthly for renting. Additionally, finding a right house might be rather difficult. Furthermore, housing prices sometimes goes up exponentially even on a daily basis. Finally, they should accept owners’ view if some set their minds to rent a home in place of purchasing one.

To put it in a nutshell, whilst renting an apartment block seems to be such a controversial decision, it is a matter of personal taste to a great extent.

[sherif mahmoud]

adv
i have the chance to move from one place to another easily to choose the most convenient home for me .
disadv
i have to cut a fixed portion of my monthly income to pay the rent bill.

[Vu]

Disadvantages of renting house
- have too pay money by weekly or monthly.
- house renting prices may increased by yearly.
- can't decorating as your favorite.
- you have May repaired if make breakdown or dirsty wall, floor. Some time you have to pay some spare parts as bulk lighters,
- you have also to clean garden by yourself( cut grasses, cut small tree brands) but without reduce renting house prices on some week or month.
- you may have to move out if landlord need to sale house but no long informed.
Advantages
- the house rented just enought for family members, dont need too large depending on your family member or your using favorite.
- you can share rooms, bills with friends or another families by renting same house place.
- the house renting considering to close your working places, bus or train stations.

[Katherina]

Advantages of renting:
1. No need to pay a large amount of money to buy a property
2. You can live in a larger house with limited budget
3. Maintenance costs are avoided
4. Convenient for people who have to move to other part of the world because of their career

Disadvantages of renting:
1. People may experience financial insecurity because they do not make investment in the long term
2. Renting prices usually goes up every year, so many people cannot afford it later and they have to move to smaller places
3. You cannot change the interior design without the landlord permission

[sunil]

It is true many people are renting house in these days due to various reasons. Some believe it has number of benefits to rent a house while other think it has many disadvantages.
Let us discuss some of the drawbacks of renting a house.Firstly, many person say that renting house is a completey a wastage of money as renting money can be utilized to pay premium of our own house, for example, banks give loan and we can pay premium with that money instead of paying rent.Secondly, we can not design renting home as per requirement .Last but not least,it has been seen many times that while renting a house, we need to give some upfront money and we are supposed to get back our money when we leave the house but landlord often did not paid back this money.

However,other groups of people believe that renting a house has numerous advantages.We do not need to invest huge money as we donot buy any house so this sum can be used in business or fixed deposit in bank.Moreover,in these days people change their jobs quite frequently so with rented house they can conveniently leave one place and rent other.Most importantly, specially in big cities it is too costly to buy a house so renting a house is good way for accommodation.
In conclusion, I believe that renting a house has both advantages and disadvantages and lot depends on the circumstances of people.

[sheen]

Rented accommodation than buying is a preferred trend by a few people. However, besides several benefits of renting a house, there are many drawbacks as well.

There are various advantages of renting a house. Firstly, in most of the situations, the tenants are not considered liable for any major damages, and the landlord or the house owner are supposed to pay for the maintenance charges as well as the modification or repair amount. Secondly, renting a house is very convenient if it is required for temporary or short-term basis, either due to the job, studies or any other reason. This decision of convenience helps people in quick traveling for their set tasks. In addition, most of the people prefer to take furnished property which saves them from the hassle of spending money every now and then, also, it saves their time and energy.

On the other hand, the disadvantages of rented house are no less. The most important and known drawback is the overall trend of increasing rents, which is becoming heavier on the pocket of almost all the modest earners. The never ending rent installments and the realization of left without own shelter could create mental stress and it could also drag individuals towards the psychological disorders, especially near the retirement age. While on rent, people are left with a few choices, this is another drawback of rented residence. For example, in some of the legal contracts, the owners bound the tenants to not to make any amendments, in fact, not even a single nail is allowed for hanging the picture, stopping the tenants in entering their comfort zone.

In conclusion, it is a matter of choice to live in a rented house than buying a property, besides knowing advantages and disadvantages both, which are nearly equivalent in number.

[Khanh Nguyễn]

Hi Simon
If a question has "outweight" in that. Is it appropriate to write only 1side ( benefits or drawbacks)?
Thanks in sdvance

[Khaled Said]

Hi Simon,

Advantages for rent:
1- Rent can be affordable, does not need huge sums like mortgage.

2- Lease can be renewed every year, so any time tenant can leave at the end of lease to other convenient place.

Disadvantages:
1- If you stay for a long time, you cannot sell it or make profit on it not like your own home. In other words, lose your investment.

2-Landlord can ask you to leave at any moment.

3- There are many restrictions on lessee. For example, number of family, pets, parties and parking lots availability.

Thank you,

Khaled Said

[Justine]

Advantage for renting a house:
1 Flexible. I can move to a new home if I change the place to work that I can save the traffic time.
2 Save money. I can move to a cheaper place if I want to save money.
3 I can always change my mode and I can explore the different city view.

Disadvantage for renting a house:
1 I need to take time to search new house and inspection which I do not have relax spare time.
2 I need to get familiar with new room mate if I need share room with others.
3 It will be tough for a single one to move all personal stuff to the new home.

Thank you,
Justine

[SNEHAL BHAVSAR]

Hello Simon,
while talking about the house, the shelter is needed to everyone.
Advantages of renting house
Flexible: people can move anywhere when needed or may be not adjusting with the enviornment.
Movable: it can be easily movable anywhere even if they change the state also.
Relax:people also feel relaxed when not own home, no need to take extra care about it. just pay the rent every month and stay relaxed.

Disadvantages of renting house
Rent: people have to pay rent every month if they have arrangements or not.
Landlord: sometimes landlord became problem for people, they come to interfere in someone's life.
Transfer: when you move one to another house is is very hard to manage everything. it is not a single person task.

Thank you
Snehal Bhavsar

[Mandeep]

Question is about advantages and disadvantages of renting your home and all the comments are about renting a home. There is huge difference between these two and will change the task achievement if wrong understood.
Plz clarify....

[Darshpreet Singh]

additional disadvantage:-

renting a home relatively expensive--> population is always far more but accommodation are less--> so, cost is higher
for example, in India, a standard-size house costs ten thousand Indian rupees which is equal to the monthly salary of a teacher.