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

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark National Picture

Analysis of official statistics reveals the extent of disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.

The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey.
• Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
• The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems.

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

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges

Within Centre4, workers stress that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.

Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They may possess larger properties, 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 gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and need are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.