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Lahore & Pakistan Rental Housing Statistics
30 verified data points on renting in Pakistan and Lahore, drawn from the 7th Population & Housing Census 2023 and DHA Lahore's official record. Every figure below carries a plain-text attribution. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite this page — credit "KirayaHome, kirayahome.com".
Who rents in Pakistan
Census tenure data is the cleanest national picture of renting in Pakistan. It shows renting is an urban story — and a growing one.
11.87%
of all housing units in Pakistan were rented in 2023, up from 11.53% in 2017.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
81.91%
of housing units were owned in 2023, slightly down from 82.14% in 2017.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
23.82%
of urban housing units in Pakistan were rented in 2023 (24.27% in 2017).
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
71.02%
of urban housing units were owner-occupied in 2023, versus 70.87% in 2017.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
4.15%
rural housing units were rented in 2023 — renting remains overwhelmingly urban.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
4.20%
of housing units were rent-free in 2023, down sharply from 6.33% in 2017.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
0.96% / 0.91%
of housing units fell into the new 2023 categories of Government House and Non-Government House respectively.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
38,292,556
households were counted in Pakistan in 2023, up from 31,915,884 in 2017 — a 20% increase in six years.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.4)
Punjab in provincial context
Punjab is the highest-ownership large province in the country, which makes its rental pockets — Lahore above all — unusually concentrated.
84.31%
of Punjab's housing units were owner-occupied in 2023, among the highest provincial ownership rates in Pakistan.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.5)
3.45%
rent-free share in Punjab — the lowest of any province.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.5)
15.78%
of Sindh's housing units were rented in 2023, the highest provincial rental rate.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.5)
85.76%
ownership rate in Balochistan, the highest in the country.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 5.5)
Urbanisation: the demand engine
Rental demand tracks urbanisation. Pakistan added urban population share in every census interval, and two cities dominate the total.
93,884,702
people — 38.88% of Pakistan's population — lived in urban areas in 2023, up from 36.44% in 2017.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
61.12%
of Pakistanis still lived in rural areas in 2023, down from 63.56% in 2017.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
~34%
of Pakistan's entire urban population lives in just two cities: Karachi and Lahore.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
53.97%
of Sindh's population is urban — the most urbanised province; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the most rural at 84.99%.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
Household size — why 3 and 4 bed dominates
Average household size explains the shape of Pakistan's rental stock: large families, few studios, and strong demand for 3–5 bedroom homes.
6.3 persons
is Pakistan's average household size in 2023, down from 6.4 in 2017.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
6.4 persons
average household size in Punjab in 2023 — above the national average.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
6.2 / 6.3
persons per household in urban and rural Pakistan respectively.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
6.9 persons
average household size in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the largest nationally; Sindh is smallest among provinces at 5.6 and Islamabad at 5.5.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
Lahore specifically
Lahore is Pakistan's second city and one of its fastest-growing large urban districts — the structural reason rents in the city keep climbing.
13.0 million
people lived in Lahore at the 2023 census, making it Pakistan's second-largest city after Karachi (18.87 million).
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
2.65% a year
average annual population growth in Lahore between 2017 (11.12 million) and 2023 (13.0 million).
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
+1.88 million
people added to Lahore in six years — roughly the population of a mid-size city, absorbed largely into rental housing.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023 (2023 minus 2017 figures))
92.08%
literacy rate in Lahore district — the highest-performing district cited for Punjab in the census report.
(Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023)
DHA Lahore: scale and history
DHA Lahore is the single most searched rental submarket in the city. These figures are self-reported by DHA Lahore on its official site and are labelled as such.
1973
DHA Lahore was founded as the Civil and Defence Housing Society Lahore.
(Source: DHA Lahore, About Us (official, self-reported))
March 1975
the society was renamed Lahore Cantonment Co-Operative Housing Society (LCCHS) and registered with the Government of Punjab.
(Source: DHA Lahore, About Us (official, self-reported))
1991 / 1999
Lahore High Court entrusted powers to Commander Lahore Corps in 1991; the society was converted into DHA Lahore in 1999 by Provincial Ordinance.
(Source: DHA Lahore, About Us (official, self-reported))
2002 / 2004
DHA was federalised in 2002 and validated by Parliament in 2004.
(Source: DHA Lahore, About Us (official, self-reported))
34,000 → 312,000 kanals
DHA Lahore's stated growth in land area since inception.
(Source: DHA Lahore, About Us (official, self-reported))
≈25% of Lahore
the share of the city DHA Lahore states its 312,000-kanal footprint represents. Self-reported by DHA; not independently verified.
(Source: DHA Lahore, About Us (official, self-reported))
Methodology & sources
Every figure on this page was read directly from a primary document. National, provincial, Lahore and household statistics come from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' 7th Population & Housing Census 2023 National Census Report. DHA Lahore's history and land area come from DHA Lahore's own official “About Us” record and are labelled as self-reported, because they have not been independently verified against an outside authority.
We deliberately publish no estimated or modelled numbers. Where a widely repeated figure could not be traced to a primary source — notably Pakistan's national housing shortfall, monthly CPI house-rent inflation and area-level average rents in Lahore — we have left it out rather than repeat it. Those sections will be added once we can cite an original release.
Citation: KirayaHome, “Lahore & Pakistan Rental Housing Statistics”, kirayahome.com. Last reviewed 2026. Reporters are welcome to reuse any statistic here with attribution to the original body listed beside it.
About the publisher: KirayaHome is a verified rental platform for DHA Lahore and the wider Lahore market. Every listing is submitted by a licensed broker and manually reviewed before it goes live. For data requests or comment, contact us through the site.