The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England.

In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark National Picture

Data from government figures shows how deep disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.

This spread of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land

In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes very real difficulties for everyday life.

• The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute journey.
• Reaching important services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems.

“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

At Centre4, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained director a community leader.

Despite 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 inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic divide is clear: an average three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.