A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in Across England.

In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Data from government statistics shows how deep inequality often exists, at times over little more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

This spread of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the number of places where disadvantaged and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Space

In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long detour.
• Reaching important services like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

Within a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic divide is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.

Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.