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

In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, 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 associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from government statistics shows the extent of inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.

The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

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

• School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute detour.
• Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and related problems.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Community Spirit Amidst Challenges

Within a local community centre, staff emphasise that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The financial gap is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Residents speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more divided England, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably close neighbours.