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

In Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high barricade physically divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since 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 official figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country.

The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and affluent people end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it creates tangible difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long journey.
• Reaching key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship

Within a local community centre, staff stress that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”

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

Locals describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly divided England, where wealth and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.