A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in homes only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade physically separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Data from government statistics shows the extent of inequality can run, at times across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

This spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where deprived and affluent people end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it causes tangible problems for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long journey.
• Access to important services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship

At Centre4, workers stress that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic gap is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Locals describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.