A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.

In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy properties just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It’s been like this 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 associate with us.”

A Stark Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of official figures reveals the extent of disparity often exists, sometimes over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines.

• The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to important services like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems.

“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

Within Centre4, staff stress that need transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director a community leader.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.

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

The financial gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.