Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade physically separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
Data from government figures shows the extent of inequality often exists, at times across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.
This spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical division; it causes tangible problems for daily routines.
“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.
At a local community centre, staff emphasise that need transcends postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.
Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial gap is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where wealth and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
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