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

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties only several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from government statistics reveals the extent of disparity can run, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.

This spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent people end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land

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

• The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems.

“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

At Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director a community leader.

Despite being placed 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 least deprived 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. 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,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds 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 across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.