The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in Across England.

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high wall physically separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once connected them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of official figures shows the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of councils now contain a locality 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 well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Space

In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a metaphorical division; it causes very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges

Within Centre4, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment 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 in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic divide is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Residents describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.