🔗 Share this article A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in Across England. Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that previously connected them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” A Stark National Picture Analysis of official figures reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. This spread of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Land In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes tangible problems for daily routines. School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long journey. Access to key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges Within a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings. “They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial gap is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.” The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.
Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that previously connected them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” A Stark National Picture Analysis of official figures reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. This spread of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Land In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes tangible problems for daily routines. School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long journey. Access to key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges Within a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings. “They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial gap is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.” The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.