IELTS Writing Task 1 question with Sample Answer 11

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The pie charts below show the percentage of housing owned and rented in the UK in 1991 and 2007. Summarize the information by describing the main features of the charts and making comparisons where appropriate.

Write at least 150 words

Housing owned and rented in the UK

model answer:

The pie charts compare homeownership and renting for 1991 and 2007 in percentage terms. In 1991, homeowner were the most popular type of housing, accounting for 60%, or more than over half of all homes. The next largest sector was social rented homes, amounting to 23% or nearly one-third of homes. The remaining homes were mostly privately rented (11%) with a tiny fraction being social housing (6%).

Sixteen years later, in 2007, the number of homeowners had risen to 70% or almost three-quarters of all homes. This was an increase of 10% compared with 1991. Much of the increase in homeownership can be explained by the decrease in social rented homes, which had dropped from 23% to 17%.

The percentage of privately rented homes had remained unchanged at 11%. However, there were 5 million more homes in 2007 compared with 1991 so the number of rented homes had increased despite the same percentage. Social housing has decreased three-fold from 6% in 1991 to 2% in 2007, and it remains the least popular type of housing.