🔗 Share this article The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England. Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade physically separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of disparity often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. This spread of deprivation has led to a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it creates tangible problems for daily routines. School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour. Access to key services like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues. “People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges Within a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent 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 a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial divide is evident: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000. Residents describe a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided society, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade physically separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of disparity often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. This spread of deprivation has led to a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it creates tangible problems for daily routines. School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour. Access to key services like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues. “People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges Within a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent 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 a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial divide is evident: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000. Residents describe a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided society, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.