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

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

A Stark National Picture

Data from government statistics reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it creates tangible difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long detour.
• Access to important services like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship

Within a local community centre, staff stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director a community leader.

Despite ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

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

Residents speak of a palpable feeling of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.