In Some Countries People Prefer to Rent a House than Buy One – IELTS Writing Task 2

In some countries, people prefer to rent a house than buy one. What are the advantages and disadvantages of renting a property?

Outline

Essay Type

Advantages/Disadvantages essay

Introduction

Paraphrase the topic of the essay and mention that it has its merits and demerits.

Body paragraphs

Paragraph 1 – Talk about the advantages of living in a rented apartment.

Paragraph 2 – Implore the drawbacks.

Conclusion

Restate your opinions.

Sample Essay

In many countries, people still prefer to own their homes. However, many people prefer to rent rather than possess in the more developed countries because of affordability, property taxes, and maintenance expenses. Many people are migrating for jobs. Accordingly, it does not make much sense for them to stay anchored to a particular location by securing property there.

To start with, purchasing a property requires a great deal of money and the skyrocketing price in big cities makes it impossible for many to own a home for many people. As a result, these people naturally rent an apartment or condo, or studios. There are certain advantages to living in a rented apartment. First of all, the person does not have to pay a considerable sum of money at a time and does not need to deliver housing taxes and bear maintenance costs. Moreover, such people can change their living place based on the location of their workplace and children’s school. The renovation of the place is the landlord’s responsibility, and the tenants do not require to worry about it.

Alternatively, the real beneficiary is the house owner. There is no solidity as the person has to move from one place to another after the expiration of the lease contract. Consequently, it increases the expenditure of packing and moving to other sites. Moreover, the person who leases the area has to bear restrictions, such as not modifying the place according to their requirements and prohibition on keeping a pet.

There are both advantages and drawbacks of rental accommodation in equivalent proportion to recapitulate. Though it lessens the expense of maintenance, in some cases, it leads to a reduced sense of home security.

Vocabulary

• Lessens

Meaning – make or become less; diminish.
Example – The grieving process is typically slow, gradually winding along until it eventually lessens.

• Barriers

Meaning – a circumstance or obstacle that keeps people or things apart or prevents communication or progress.
Example – When I hit the second set of barriers, I actually ran over them instead of tippy-toeing.

• Anchored

Meaning – provide with a firm basis or foundation.
Example – Perhaps there is something in our genes that is firmly anchored in the past.

• Condo

Meaning – A condominium (also called a “condo”) is a large property complex comprised of individual units, and each unit is owned separately.
Example – There was a loud booming noise that sounded like a gas tank exploding in the condo beside us.

• Tax

Meaning – a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers’ income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions.
Example – Tax on gains made in October, November and December will be due by the end of January next year.

• Renovation

Meaning – to restore to a former better state (as by cleaning, repairing, or rebuilding)
Example – The renovation involves a new floor and modifications to the roof.

• Tenant

Meaning – a person who occupies land or property rented from a landlord.
Example – The tenant is hoping to string this matter out as long as possible, but the time has come to draw it ahead.

• Solidity

Meaning – the quality or state of being firm or strong in structure.
Example – I settled on the thin padding of the window seat and leaned against the reassuring solidity of the window frame.

• Lease

Meaning – a contract by which one party conveys land, property, services, etc. to another for a specified time, usually in return for a periodic payment.
Example – The lease on the building has now expired and the town council is waiting for the city council to come up with a new one.

• Recapitulate

Meaning – to retell or restate briefly
Example – Hall believed that children recapitulate stages of human evolution as they grow from infants to adults.