A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.

In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high wall literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that previously linked them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of official figures reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across little more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of councils now contain a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.

This geographical widening of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the number of places where deprived and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes tangible difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute detour.
• Access to important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.

“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

At Centre4, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial divide is evident: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000.

Residents describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an ever more divided society, where prosperity and need are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.