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

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy properties just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade physically separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from official figures reveals how deep inequality can run, at times over little more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean a majority of local authorities now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country.

This spread of poverty has led to a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes tangible difficulties for daily routines.

• The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
• Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges

At Centre4, workers stress that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.

Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: 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 wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more 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 typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000.

Locals speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

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