The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.

Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.

“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 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 mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from government statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, at times over little more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation.

The spread of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest areas adjoined 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 gap is the biggest in the country and starkly obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical division; it causes tangible problems for daily routines.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long detour.
• Access to key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Community Spirit Amidst Challenges

Within Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director a community leader.

Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”

The financial divide is clear: 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.

Locals describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.