The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.

Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties only several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from official figures shows how deep inequality can run, at times over little more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.

This geographical widening of poverty has led to a significant rise in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.

Community Spirit Amidst Challenges

At a local community centre, staff stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director a community leader.

Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial divide is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably in close proximity.