🔗 Share this article A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England. In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 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 mix with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Data from official statistics reveals the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation. The spread of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Space In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues. “People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall. Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges At a local community centre, workers emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director a community leader. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment. “They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.” The financial divide is clear: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000. Locals describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities 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 increasingly divided society, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 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 mix with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Data from official statistics reveals the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation. The spread of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Space In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues. “People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall. Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges At a local community centre, workers emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director a community leader. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment. “They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.” The financial divide is clear: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000. Locals describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities 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 increasingly divided society, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.