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

Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of government statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, at times across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long journey.
• Access to key amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.

Community Spirit Amidst Hardship

Within Centre4, workers emphasise that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive a community leader.

Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

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

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic gap is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.

Residents speak of a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

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