Lens · report
Renovation in Lens
In 2025, 16% of the homes authorised were in existing buildings: conversions, extensions and changes of use.
- Homes in existing buildings, 2025
- 16%
Homes authorised in Lens: new buildings and existing ones
Dwellings authorised each year, by the year the permit was granted: in new buildings, and by works on existing buildings (conversions, extensions, changes of use). SDES Sitadel.
- Existing buildings
- New buildings
Show the numbers
| Year | New buildings | Existing buildings | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 209 | 41 | 250 |
| 2024 | 182 | 18 | 200 |
| 2023 | 81 | 11 | 92 |
| 2022 | 132 | 12 | 144 |
| 2021 | 489 | 16 | 505 |
| 2020 | 251 | 23 | 274 |
| 2019 | 150 | 89 | 239 |
| 2018 | 567 | 9 | 576 |
| 2017 | 290 | 10 | 300 |
| 2016 | 199 | 8 | 207 |
| 2015 | 50 | 2 | 52 |
| 2014 | 152 | 15 | 167 |
| 2013 | 210 | 8 | 218 |
Only permits that create dwellings are listed, so renovation that adds no home (refurbishing, insulating, re-roofing) is not counted. A permit is permission to build, not a finished home. The current year is left out until it is complete.
Other reports for Lens
At the median sale price, a 90 m² home costs €139,500. With 10% down and a 30-year mortgage, the payment is €543 a month. The HCSF caps it at 35% of a household's income.
- Payment, two incomes
- 17%
- Payment, one income
- 35%
Owning a 90 m² apartment costs less each month than renting it. Owning counts interest, running costs and the return the deposit could earn, at apartments' median sale price; rent is the asking rent. Repaying the loan is saving, so it is left out.
- Rent per month
- €1,074
- Owning per month
- €558
Figures for Pas-de-Calais: Lens has no reliable figures of its own.
11.4% fewer homes were licensed for construction in the last 12 months than in an average year of the past decade.
- Licensed, 12 months
- 6,067
In 2022 the population grew by 223 while 423 homes were started: 0.5 new residents for every new home.
- New residents per new home, 2022
- 0.5
- Population change, 2022
- +223
10.6% of the 17,874 homes counted in the 2023 census stood empty, whether for sale, to let or for other reasons.
- Empty, 2023 census
- 10.6%
- Empty homes
- 1,895
Public bodies signed €3.8M of housing works here in 2024, and €3.8M since 2024.
- Signed in 2024
- €3.8M
- Per resident, 2024
- €114