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

In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes only several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall literally divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them.

“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from official figures shows the extent of inequality can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country.

The spread of deprivation has coincided with a significant rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it causes very real problems for everyday life.

• The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long journey.
• Reaching important services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other issues.

“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.

Community Spirit Amidst Hardship

Within a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”

The financial divide is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000.

Residents describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here 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 portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably close neighbours.