Hustlers IELTS | Band 7–9 Structure + Model Answer + Vocabulary
This is a two-part IELTS Task 2 question, which means you don’t get to “half answer” it.
If you only explain why people buy homes but forget to clearly say whether it’s positive or negative, your Task Response score will drop. If you only give your opinion but don’t explain the reasons behind the trend, same result.
This post shows you how to do it properly—with a clear plan, a strong structure, and a model essay you can learn from.
The Task (Cambridge IELTS 15 Academic)
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?
Hustlers IELTS 5-Step Method (The One You Can Repeat Every Time)
Step 1: Understand the Task
This is not “reasons for buying a home” only.
It’s a comparison mindset question:
Why do people value owning more than renting?
Then you must judge: positive or negative overall.
Step 2: Decide Your Position
A strong position is specific and realistic:
- Why owning matters:
- Stability
- Investment / wealth-building
- Positive or negative:
Benefits for individuals, but overall significant downsides, especially:- Risk of losing your home (mortgage pressure)
- House price inflation (hurts young/low-income people)
That’s a clear, defensible stance.
Step 3: Plan (Fast and Clean)
- Intro: trend + what the essay will do
- BP1: stability (owning vs renting)
- BP2: investment (property prices, savings)
- BP3: evaluation (positives, but bigger negatives socially)
- Conclusion: summary + final view
Step 4: Write
Now execute the plan—no improvising.
Step 5: Check
Spend 2–3 minutes checking:
- Did you answer both questions?
- Is your opinion clear?
- Grammar/punctuation errors?
Band 8–9 Model Essay
Many countries around the world have seen a trend towards owning your own home instead of renting. This essay will consider why this is the case, and whether or not this is beneficial.
The first reason why people wish to buy their own home is because it provides them with a sense of stability. Rental contracts are temporary agreements, often just between 6 and 12 months in duration, at the end of which you may have to leave and find alternative accommodation. Owning a home means you get to live there permanently.
The second reason, and one which has grown in importance in recent years, is that owning your own home is seen as an investment. Property prices generally rise, so real estate can be a safe place to invest your surplus income. House prices in the UK, for example, rise by around 4% per annum whereas interest on bank deposits is close to zero.
For individuals, then, there seem to be clear positive benefits to owning your home. But overall, I feel there are considerable downsides, both for individuals and for society as a whole. For most people, buying property requires taking out a mortgage, typically for a length of 25 years, and if at any time during this period borrowers are unable to maintain mortgage payments, they risk losing their property. For society as a whole there are also negatives. The demand for buying property leads to house price inflation, which can mean people on low incomes, such as young people, can find it impossible to