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

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that previously linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Data from official figures reveals how deep inequality can run, at times across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it causes very real problems for daily routines.

• School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is hindered.
• The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.

“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

At a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic divide is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent homes go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”

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