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

In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy homes only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them.

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

A Stark National Picture

Analysis of government figures reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes over little more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.

This spread of deprivation has coincided with a significant rise in the number of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land

In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates tangible problems 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 employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, motioning at the rusted barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

Within a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial divide is evident: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable properties fetch about £410,000.

Locals describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.