What to keep in mind when buying a flat in Sabadell

The 1962 flood and the estates that followed

On the night of 25 to 26 September 1962, 212 litres per square metre fell in under three hours and the Ripoll and its tributaries burst their banks. According to the local news site iSabadell, Torre-romeu and Can Puiggener were the worst-hit neighbourhoods, and the official death toll in the city was 33.

After the flood a plan was approved to build five thousand homes in Sabadell, including 500 by the developer Visasa in Les Termes and 2,000 by the state housing agency Obra Sindical del Hogar in San Bernardo and Espronceda. They are 1960s estates, built fast, and today part of what is bought and sold in the city.

That history explains two questions worth asking in Sabadell: the exact year of the block, because many were born in that decade, and where it stands relative to the river.

Aluminosis and the rebuilding of Arraona

In 2003 the Catalan government listed Arraona, in Sabadell, alongside Sant Roc (Badalona), Sant Cosme (El Prat) and La Trinitat (Barcelona), among neighbourhoods being rebuilt because of structural defects such as aluminosis, the decay of concrete made with aluminous cement. Those schemes together meant 6,300 new homes across Catalonia.

The Barcelona building surveyors' association (CAATEEB) dates the use of aluminous cement in floor joists to 1950-1970 and explains that joists from that time no longer lose strength by themselves; what damages them is damp rusting the steel. Sabadell has 8,518 homes in buildings from 1951-1960 and 20,405 from 1961-1970, according to the 2021 census.

A block from those years does not necessarily contain that cement, and a rebuilt neighbourhood says nothing about the building across the street. On a viewing, look at bathroom and kitchen ceilings and ask the community of owners whether joists have been repaired or reinforced.

A more mixed housing stock

Sabadell's profile is more balanced than that of the cities next to Barcelona. Besides the 1960s blocks, it has 18,971 homes from 1971-1980, 10,871 from the 1990s and 16,288 from 2001-2010: 35,574 homes newer than 1980 in total.

For a buyer, that means very different options at similar prices. With a 1960s flat the conversation is about floors, façades and the lift; with one from 2005, about finishes, parking and energy performance. The report tells both apart from the year recorded in the Catastro, Spain's register of buildings.

The Ripoll and mapped flood zones

Overlaying the municipality on the Spanish environment ministry's official flood maps (SNCZI) gives 5 ARPSI, the areas of potentially significant flood risk, and river flood zones reaching the city already at the 10-year return period. That is the same count as Terrassa and one more than Barcelona, in a city that grew up beside the Ripoll.

The count covers the whole municipality. What you need to know is whether your plot lies within the 10, 100 or 500-year zones, which is what check 10 of the report looks at. In low-lying areas near the river, also ask the seller and the community about insurance and recent water episodes.

The building inspection in Sabadell

The Catalan government requires every residential building to pass a building inspection (ITE) before it turns 45, counted from the Catastro year. In Sabadell that covers the whole stock of the 1960s and 1970s and is now reaching blocks from the early 1980s.

The inspector grades defects as minor, significant, serious or very serious, and the certificate of fitness reflects it: 10, 6 or 3 years depending on severity, or refusal if serious defects have not yet been made safe. Handing over that certificate is compulsory when a home is sold; ask for it along with the technical report, which is where pending works are listed, before you sign the arras (the deposit contract).

Radon, price and the report's limits

Sabadell is in radon zone I of the building code, a municipal classification that measures no home, and has a basic ground acceleration of 0.04 g under the seismic code NCSE-02. The average appraised value of open-market housing was €2,446/m² in the first quarter of 2026, 10% up on a year earlier, according to the housing ministry.

The HOUSINGFAX report runs 22 checks on any Sabadell address, but two Catalan sources are not read yet: the Catalan inspection register (the building condition comes from the inspection PDF if you upload it) and the energy certificate register of the Catalan Energy Institute, ICAEN (check 06 shows no data). The report does not replace a technical inspection of the building. The free report shows the checks with your building's data; the essential one costs €11 and the complete one €19.