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

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high barricade physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously connected 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 doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Data from official figures shows how deep disparity can run, at times over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.

This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of locations where deprived and affluent people end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and starkly obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates tangible problems for daily routines.

• The school commute that should take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long journey.
• Access to important services like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other issues.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship

Within Centre4, workers stress that need transcends postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.

Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of community among its residents. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess 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 never even talk to each other.”

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

Locals describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly in close proximity.