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

In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.

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

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from government figures shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The spread of deprivation has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Space

In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it causes very real problems for everyday life.

• School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute detour.
• Access to important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.

“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

Within Centre4, staff stress that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic divide is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Locals speak of a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”

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