A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in homes only several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Data from official figures shows how deep disparity can run, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the country.
This spread of poverty has led to a sharp increase in the number of locations where deprived and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a symbolic division; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.
- The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to important services like supermarkets, schools and care homes is hindered.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable properties go for about £410,000.
Locals describe a palpable sense of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
