A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in Across England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high wall physically divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this 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 Pattern Across the Country

Data from official statistics shows the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

This spread of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space

In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life.

• The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey.
• Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.

“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges

At Centre4, staff stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, 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 financial divide is evident: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are related to poverty.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided England, where wealth and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.