The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in England.

Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in homes only several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked 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 associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from official statistics shows the extent of inequality can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land

In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
• Access to important amenities like supermarkets, schools and care homes is hindered.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

Within Centre4, workers emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good.

Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely many people over there never even talk to each other.”

The financial divide is evident: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent homes go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.