The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties only several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country.
This geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of locations where deprived and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it causes tangible difficulties for everyday life.
- The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long detour.
- Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems.
“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, motioning at the rusted barricade.
Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within Centre4, workers stress that need transcends addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader.
Despite ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial gap is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable homes fetch about £410,000.
Locals speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more divided society, where wealth and deprivation are often awkwardly in close proximity.
