The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties only several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark Pattern Across the Country

Data from government statistics shows how deep inequality often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long journey.
• Access to important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other issues.

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

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

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

Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

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

Residents speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.