A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.

In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy homes only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that previously connected them.

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

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Data from government figures shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.

The spread of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life.

• The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, 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 reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

Within a local community centre, workers emphasise that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.

Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic gap is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable properties go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”

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