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

Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy properties just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this 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

Analysis of government figures shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of councils now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation.

This geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of locations where deprived and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes tangible difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long detour.
• Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.

“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

At Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director a community leader.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there never even talk to each other.”

The economic gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Locals describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably close neighbours.