[6] Other accolades of Lees include her election as a fellow of Academia Europaea (MAE) in 2022, and Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2013.
The Lees side of her family originated in Salford; her first cousin Mike Holden held the British heavyweight boxing title in 2000.
In 2013 she joined the University of Leicester as Professor of Human Geography and Director of Research, where she worked until 2022.
She was Professor of Human Geography and Chair of the Cities Research Group at King's College London from 1997 to 2013.
[18] With the late Italian urbanist Sandra Annunziata, she also produced an anti-gentrification toolkit for Southern European cities.