The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.

Within Nunsthorpe, residents occupy properties only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall physically separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously connected them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of government figures shows how deep inequality can run, at times across little more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the number of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
• Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports 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, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

At Centre4, staff stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said director Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial divide is clear: an average three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000.

Locals describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”

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