A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high barricade physically separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from official figures reveals how deep disparity can run, at times across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation.
The spread of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes very real problems for everyday life.
- The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey.
- Access to key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and other problems.
“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable properties go for about £410,000.
Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably in close proximity.
