A major new government report shows the borough’s deprivation levels have worsened considerably over the last decade with growing inequality between east and west, reports Finn Logue and James Cracknell

Parts of Edmonton are among the 2% of most deprived areas in England

Enfield borough is now one of the worst local areas in England for deprivation, new government figures show.

Data released by the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government highlight alarming issues of poverty, unemployment and child deprivation, and an exacerbating division between the east and west of Enfield.

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) report ranks each neighbourhood in the country based on its deprivation. Small neighbourhood standings are then combined to score larger local authority areas such as Enfield. Deprivation in this context is defined to mean unmet needs or resources across income, employment, education, crime and other measurements of everyday life.

It shows Enfield now ranks within the worst 13% of local authorities across the country for deprivation – with some parts of Edmonton even ranking among the 2% most deprived. A detailed map of the data can be found online here.

Perhaps most shockingly, 55.5% of children live in income deprived households. For this metric, Enfield ranks as the seventh worst local authority in the entire country. In total, 37.7% of all people in the borough live in income deprived households, the sixth highest rate in the country.

Comparatively, when the 2015 IMD report was released ten years ago, Enfield’s standing on almost all areas of the report were average or slightly below average.

In response to the findings Enfield Council highlighted the borough has been “underfunded for many years” thanks to “outdated” funding formulas, with the Institute of Fiscal Studies ranking Enfield as the seventh-worst funded local authority area in the country.

This may soon change, however, with a Fair Funding Review undertaken by the government set to take account of the latest data on deprivation. Local council grant allocations for 2026/27 are due to be confirmed in mid-December.

The borough is, in the words of the council, a “divided borough”, with some areas in the west such as Winchmore Hill and Oakwood ranking in the 5% of least deprived neighbourhoods, while the vast majority of local areas struggling with deprivation issues are concentrated in the east, exposing a fault line of inequality.

Edmonton Green, Angel Edmonton, Ponders End, Brimsdown, Enfield Wash and Bullsmoor all contain neighbourhoods among the 10% most deprived in England. Areas immediately surrounding the North Circular in Edmonton rank the worst in the borough, with some neighbourhoods in the top 2% nationally for deprivation.

The Index of Multiple Deprivation map of Enfield, with darker areas being poorer

Trevor Blackman, CEO of Edmonton Community Partnership, shares the view that Enfield is divided between east and west, telling the Dispatch that “historic” underfunding has created the growing levels of inequality.

He stressed that parts of Enfield feel forgotten, as the diverse make-up of its population struggle with a deepening housing crisis, among other systemic issues. Trevor said: “It’s because of historic underfunding and being badly resourced.

“We’ve got inadequate housing for a lot of our families. We should not be putting them in housing with mould, with rats, with no heating, but these are the realities for many people.

“They are doing as best as they can to look after themselves and their families, but they are already on the back foot.”

Another community leader, Paul Everitt from LocalMotion Enfield, said the report’s figures were sadly not surprising. Paul says income deprivation in the borough reflects trends across the country, and even the world, as people grapple with the effects of the rising cost of living and the housing crisis.

Paul told the Dispatch: “For us, these figures aren’t shocking, they’re the daily reality that we’re seeing every day.

“The poorer part of Enfield has always been in the east, historically. There are all sorts of communities affected by this issue, but they tend to be working class families who live in this part of the borough.”

LocalMotion is a charity whose mission is to tackle the shifting conditions of inequality to help communities thrive. Through their work, including monthly features in the Dispatch, they tell positive stories from the east of Enfield, using culture to “hold a mirror” to the people that make up the community.

Deprivation manifests itself in many ways within a community. Closely linked to poverty is poor health, high crime and unemployment. As of November 2024, Enfield had the highest percentage of people on out-of-work benefits in London, at 20.5%. Trevor referred to the borough’s “welfare families” in which generations of people are out of work due to lack of opportunities.

Trevor says ECP is working closely with Enfield’s diverse population to enable people to access support and opportunity. “Our team is multilingual,” he said “Language is a barrier to support for a lot of our families. They just need to talk to someone, and we’re that bridge to different services.

“We are working with our eastern European community, our Somalian community, our Kurdish community, and our Muslim communities.”

In 2019, after the last IMD government report, the council led a project called ‘Enfield Poverty and Inequality Commission’ which aimed to outline a number of causes for the worsening rates of poverty such as population growth and housing shortages. The aim of the report was to place a focus on improving societal inequalities within the borough, revitalising youth centres and reducing violent crime.

The EPIC report was published in January 2020, but the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis meant many of the issues outlined in the report have only worsened within Enfield in the six years since.

Enfield Council leader Ergin Erbil said: “We know many of our residents are struggling with the rising cost of living. Too many families are being forced to make tough choices every day, and our council services are here to help them.

“Today, I can confirm a £100,000 increase in our fund to help residents most in need with food, energy, water bills and other essentials through the winter. This increases the funding for this financial year to £400,000 from £300,000, funded by the [government’s] Household Support Fund.

“Enfield has been underfunded for many years, and we have repeatedly called for a fairer share of government funding so we can properly support our communities and reduce the inequalities in our borough.

“For the first time, deprivation data now includes housing costs. This gives a much more accurate picture of what our residents are facing. It will help us and the government target support more effectively, and it strengthens our case for fairer funding.

“After the independent Enfield Poverty and Inequality Commission reported in 2019, we built many of its recommendations into our Council Plan for 2023–26. The plan acknowledges the serious challenges families face and sets out how we are improving outcomes for residents. Our latest progress update shows the real impact we’re making.”

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