IELTS Essay: Owning vs Renting Property

Today, I’m going to show you how to write a great essay for IELTS writing task 2 by looking at a question about home ownership. This will basically compare renting and owning properties and the question will have two parts.

Analysing the Question

Here’s our question for today:

• In some countries, owing 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?

We can see in the question that the issue is owning vs renting a home. Then there are two parts. These require us to:

1. Explain why people want to own a home rather than rent.
2. Say whether it is positive or negative.

Once we understand the question, we can plan our answer and brainstorm ideas.

Planning an Answer

Questions like this are easy to structure answers for. You just do the following:

1. Introduction
2. Body para #1 – answer first part
3. Body para #2 – answer second part
4. Conclusion

Simple!

For body paragraph #1, I would like to explain why people prefer to own their home by focusing on financial matters. To me, this is the most obvious reason and it is definitely one that I could explain in depth.

For body paragraph #2, I will give a balance argument that explains that this totally depends on the individual person. Some might benefit from owning and others from renting. It is a matter of choice.

In-Depth Structure

Let’s look more closely at how I would structure this essay:

Sample Answer

Here is my answer to the above question:

In some parts of the world, people generally choose to buy a home rather than rent one. This essay will explore the reasons why that happens and suggest that it is neither a positive nor negative situation.

All around the world, it is common for people to want to own their home. There are various possible reasons for this, but one significant factor is the financial aspect. Although it can be uncertain due to the unpredictable nature of the economy, investing in real estate is generally considered to be a wise move because houses typically increase in price over a long period of time. Considering that people need a place to stay, and that banks will provide mortgages for only slightly more than the cost of rent in many places, it thus makes a lot of sense for people to buy a home rather than continue to pay for something that they will never own. An example is that one couple might spend a thousand dollars per month renting a home while another couple spends that same amount of money buying one. After a decade or two, they will have spent the same amount of money but the ones who own their house will have a valuable property to sell.

There are numerous factors to consider in deciding whether this is a good or bad choice, and ultimately it depends upon the people in question. The investment aspect is certainly a positive factor to consider, but equally rent provides a degree of flexibility. People who rent a home can move every few years if they choose. They also do not need to worry about the cost of maintenance or losses due to a disaster. As such, it really depends whether people care more about investment or freedom of movement.

In conclusion, people differ in their attitudes towards buying and renting properties, and indeed there are both positive and negative factors to consider. Ultimately, this is a matter of personal preference.