A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.

In Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties only several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall wall literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of official figures shows the extent of inequality often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the number of locations where deprived and well-off residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes very real problems for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long journey.
• Reaching important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
• The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.

“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship

At Centre4, staff stress that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained director a community leader.

Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.

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

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

Residents describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”

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