A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government statistics reveals the extent of inequality can run, sometimes across little more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years 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 most deprived in the country.
This spread of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it causes tangible problems for daily routines.
- The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to key amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems.
“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.
Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“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 never even talk to each other.”
The financial divide is evident: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000.
Residents describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.
