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

Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“It’s 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 take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

A Stark National Picture

Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country.

The spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of locations where disadvantaged and affluent people end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land

In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and starkly obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes tangible problems for everyday life.

• The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to key 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,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship

Within a local community centre, workers stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader.

Despite ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic gap is evident: an average three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000.

Locals describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an ever more divided society, where wealth and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.