This article has two central aims. First, it problematises the long-held consensus that homelessness legislation in England operates according to the concept of need and, secondly, it advances an alternative reading and reconceptualisation of homelessness legislation according to the notion of risk. Through examination of the two major sources of current homelessness law, the Housing Act 1996 and the recently enacted Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, this article locates and explores how risk is operationalised, the precise conceptions of risk engaged and the implications and potentiality of this risk reconceptualisation. In so doing, it is argued that risk exhibits a stronger explanatory power of the current homelessness legislation than need and presents opportunities for how we understand local authority decision-making and the shape of future reform.

中文翻译：

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重新定义英国的无家可归者立法

这篇文章有两个中心目标。首先，它problematises，在英国无家可归者的立法工作，根据概念的长期持有共识的需要;其次，它根据的概念推进无家可归立法的替代阅读和reconceptualisation风险. 通过对现行无家可归者法的两个主要来源、1996 年住房法和最近颁布的 2017 年无家可归者减少法的审查，本文定位并探讨了风险是如何运作的、所涉风险的准确概念以及这种风险重新概念化的影响和潜力. 这样做时，有人认为风险对当前无家可归者立法的解释力强于需要，并为我们如何理解地方当局的决策和未来改革的形态提供了机会。