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Surbo: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Lecce, Puglia. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Surbo

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Strada Vicinale di Virgili 1, Surbo.

Surbo, Lecce's next-door neighbour on the Salento plain

Driving north out of Lecce you barely notice when you cross into Surbo: the two built-up areas run into each other, and for many residents Surbo is where they live and Lecce where they work. The town sits on the flat Salento plain, around forty metres above sea level, among olive groves and arable fields, and a large part of Lecce's industrial zone lies within its boundaries. Giorgilorio is the main outlying hamlet.

Buyers here usually want more room while staying a few minutes from the city. What is on offer is mostly detached houses with gardens, terraced houses and three- or four-storey blocks built over the last few decades; the old centre is small, with courtyard houses and walls of the local Lecce stone. The Adriatic beaches north of Lecce can be reached by car without going through the city.

By Salento standards Surbo is young. The estimated average age is 44.3 against 47.2 for the province, and over-65s are 19.8% against 26.1%. At the end of 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 14,603 residents, down 1.7% on 2011; foreign residents are 2.4% and declared incomes are below the provincial average. Among the 96 municipalities in the province it ranks 9 by population.

Salento is one of the least earthquake-prone parts of Italy, and every municipality in the province of Lecce is in zone 4 of the Civil Protection scale; expected ground acceleration in Surbo is about 0.047 g. In stone and tufa houses, rising damp, the state of the flat roof terrace and waterproofing matter more, and for villas extended in stages, check that each addition was properly permitted.

There are no rivers on the Salento plain, and after heavy storms water can collect in low spots: the report checks flood-prone areas for the address and uses the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps to find the land parcel. Winters are mild (climate zone C).

Key points

  • Borders Lecce to the north: more space a few minutes from the city.
  • Average age 44.3 against 47.2 for the province.
  • Population down 1.7% since 2011.
  • The whole province of Lecce is in seismic zone 4.

Overview

Surbo is a municipality in the province of Lecce, in Puglia. At the end of 2023 it had 14,603 residents, among the most populous in the province (9 of 96).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Surbo is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 96 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.047 g, a low value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 1.7%. The estimated average age is 44 years, lower than the province average (47). 20% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 2.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Surbo declared an average taxable income of 18,490 euros, in line with the province (19,196 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Surbo is in climate zone C, with 1,062 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 November to 31 March, for up to 10 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 40 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Surbo has 7 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 9 grocery shops and supermarkets, 7 healthcare facilities and 4 sports facilities.

There are 0.5 schools per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.8).

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 22.6% of the land in Surbo, compared with 14.1% in the province and 8.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.9 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Surbo is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Regione Puglia in 2025. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is medium. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Surbo.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Surbo: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

The cadastral maps for Surbo are public: from the address the report finds the sheet and parcel number.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 32 inhabited census areas in Surbo. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 69 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.0%
  • fair 15.4%
  • good 84.6%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 075083. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.