A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.

Within Nunsthorpe, residents occupy homes only several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high 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,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, at times over little more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp increase in the number of places where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey.
• Reaching important services like supermarkets, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.

“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship

At a local community centre, workers emphasise that support does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive a community leader.

Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 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 most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

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

Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an ever more divided society, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly close neighbours.