A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that once connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of official figures shows how deep inequality often exists, at times across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and starkly obvious. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it causes very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

At Centre4, workers emphasise that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses 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,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic gap is clear: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000.

Residents describe a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”

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