Urbanisation and Rising Housing Costs
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 question with a model answer of 282 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 40 minutes. Write at least 250 words.
In many cities, rapid urbanisation has caused housing costs to rise dramatically. What are the causes of this trend, and what effects does it have on residents and society? Write at least 250 words.
How to approach it
- 01Split the body into one clear paragraph on causes and one on effects rather than mixing them
- 02Name at least two distinct causes — demographic pressure plus a structural or policy factor scores higher than listing one cause repeatedly
- 03Show effects at both the personal level (delayed family formation, long commutes) and the societal level (inequality, labour shortages)
- 04Use cause-effect linkers carefully: 'stems from', 'is fuelled by', 'leads to', 'as a consequence'
- 05Include a precise topical example such as nurses or teachers being priced out — this lifts the lexical band
- 06Keep your conclusion tight and avoid introducing a new cause in the final paragraph
Model answer
282 words in 4 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
Across much of the world, the price of a modest urban flat has outpaced wage growth for over a decade, and rents in major cities now consume a significant share of household income. This essay examines the main causes of this rapid increase in housing costs and considers its effects on individuals and on society as a whole.
There are several reasons behind escalating urban housing prices. The most obvious is sheer demand: as people migrate from the countryside in search of better jobs, education, and services, the population of attractive cities swells far faster than new homes can be built. Restrictive planning laws and slow approval processes compound the problem by limiting fresh supply. A second cause is the financialisation of housing itself; property has become a popular vehicle for investment, with both domestic buyers and overseas funds purchasing apartments primarily as assets rather than homes, which removes stock from the market and pushes prices higher.
The consequences for residents are significant. Young people increasingly delay forming households, sharing flats with strangers well into their thirties, while families with children are pushed into long commutes from cheaper suburbs. For lower-income workers — including the nurses, teachers, and transport staff cities depend on — even basic housing becomes unaffordable, leading to chronic stress and, in some cases, homelessness. At the societal level, the imbalance fuels inequality between owners and renters, hollows out the social mix of inner-city neighbourhoods, and weakens the labour market because workers cannot afford to live near where the jobs are.
In conclusion, rising urban housing costs stem from a mix of demographic pressure, restrictive supply, and speculative investment, and they generate hardship for residents and broader economic strain for society.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 69 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
9 fewer than the median answer for this task type
6 words at the shortest, 42 at the longest
3 fewer than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 25.6 words and vary by 10.9 words either side of that, running from 6 words to 42. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 3 of the 11 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
3 in total, spread across 3 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
while
because
in conclusion
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 88 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 78 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 3 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Response
Identify clear causes AND clear effects, with adequate development for each side; address both residents and society as the prompt requires.
Coherence & Cohesion
Use a transparent causes/effects paragraph structure with topic sentences and a range of cause-effect connectors.
Lexical Resource
Demonstrate vocabulary around urbanisation, housing markets, and social policy with accurate collocations.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Use a mix of complex structures including participle clauses and conditional or causal subordinators with control.
You have read one model answer. Now get one marked.
Paste your own attempt at this question and get a band for each criterion, with the exact sentences costing you marks.
Score my answer