É UMA CASA, Lisboa Housing First is Lisbon’s flagship Housing First programme, launched in 2013. It is an innovative response to long-term homelessness in the city for people facing complex, intersecting needs. The programme provides immediate access to permanent and independent housing in scattered-site apartments across Lisbon, paired with long-term individualised support that follows people in their homes and neighbourhoods. What distinguishes Lisbon’s model is that Housing First is integrated into an intervention ecosystem guided by a Harm Reduction approach, bringing together street outreach teams, drop-in centres, and referral mechanisms for healthcare and social support services. This integration enables continuous, person-centred support, from street homelessness to access to and maintenance of housing, while respecting each individual’s priorities, needs, and pace.
Providing permanent housing to end chronic homelessness in Lisbon
Abstract
The core objective of É UMA CASA is to eradicate chronic homelessness by reversing the traditional staircase model – instead of requiring someone to be “housing ready”, people receive housing first, with flexible support built around their priorities and pace. In practice É UMA CASA aims to provide immediate access to permanent, independent housing scattered across the city and integrated into local communities; to sustain housing stability and prevent returns to homelessness through long-term, person-centred follow-up; to improve access to health and social services such as primary care, mental health, harm reduction and social protection systems; to support harm reduction and recovery pathways without conditionality (i.e., no requirement to stop using substances for keeping housing); and strengthening social connections and community integration including through support to rebuild family ties and improve neighbourhood relationships. The programme is delivered by CRESCER, a specialised non-profit organisation with extensive experience in harm reduction, outreach and the social and health inclusion of people in vulnerable situations. CRESCER plays a central role in implementing the Housing First approach, providing multidisciplinary, person-centred support through mobile teams that accompany beneficiaries over the long-term, coordinate access to services and ensure the continuity of care tailored to individual needs.
É UMA CASA Lisbon Summary
Country: Portugal
City: Lisbon
EU member state: Yes
Geographic scale: City
City size: Large (3 030 000 residents)
Date launched: 2013
Current status: Ongoing
Policy pillar(s): Housing and the Built Environment
Target group(s): People experiencing homelessness
Funding and budget:
Total budget: EUR 1 370 000
Funding sources: Local funding, National funding
EU funds/programmes: Not applicable
É UMA CASA was designed in response to a clear gap: people in chronic homelessness with complex needs were often excluded from or unable to sustain engagement with conventional services. The Housing First model focuses on two key elements – firstly providing an independent home integrated into the community and second to offer continuous, specialised, and person-centred support.
The programme primarily targets people who are most likely to remain homeless in the absence of individualised approaches tailored to their specific needs. Chronically homeless people who often use drugs in ways that cause health and social harms may have comorbidities and may also have lower trust in health and social systems. Access is non-conditional, meaning there is no requirement for abstinence or specific nationality and pets are allowed. This helps reduce barriers and stigma, supporting greater uptake among the most excluded.
Delivery is mobilised through scattered-site housing (apartments rented from the private market) and a high-support case management model, integrated with outreach and drop-in pathways. CRESCER’s (the organisation supporting individuals facing vulnerability in Lisbon) system integration is central: projects operate independently but maintain strong referral routes so clients can access the right services with minimal friction, supporting trust and continuity. Furthermore, a key aspect of social inclusion within Housing First interventions is the meaningful participation of beneficiaries in the life and development of the programme. Tenant meetings, involvement in everyday project decisions, and engagement in advocacy processes can strengthen empowerment, community participation, and citizenship, moving beneficiaries from passive recipients of support to active agents within the intervention.
É UMA CASA provides immediate entry into permanent housing in scattered apartments across Lisbon, with long-term support for both ongoing needs and acute crises. The programme has impact beyond housing including improved healthcare engagement, connections to social services, restored family ties, and reduced substance use for many participants.
Monitoring is embedded through routine follow-up and outcome tracking, including connections to health and social services, documentation status and medication adherence supporting ongoing learning and fidelity to Housing First principles. Programme evaluation indicates high housing retention and wide-ranging outcomes including around 90% of clients not returning to homelessness. Lisbon’s evidence base has also been actively disseminated to support learning and transfer for example through published evidence in multiple languages summarising outcomes and methodology.
Identify population groups facing the greatest barriers and bring complex services closer to those who need them most. Outreach and community-based delivery show how even complex care can be delivered with minimal time and resource burdens on those accessing services. Taking a people-centred approach which links outreach, drop-in and Housing through connected referral pathways helps people access what they need without navigating multiple disconnected systems.
Engage partnerships and stakeholders to strengthen trust and effectiveness. Longstanding paid peer roles help build respectful relationships and ground services in lived experiences, something which is particularly important for highly marginalised groups with low trust in mainstream services.
CRESER project page: https://crescer.org/projetos/e-uma-casa
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Photo credits: © Crescer
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