Indices of Deprivation 2025: What It Means for the North

The publication of the English Indices of Deprivation (IoD) 2025 provides a detailed picture of deprivation across England. These indices measure relative disadvantage at a very local level, using seven domains: income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing and services, and living environment. Together, they offer a comprehensive view of the social and economic challenges facing communities.

The latest findings confirm what many of us already know: deprivation in parts of the North is both deep and persistent. While deprivation has increased slightly across all regions since 2004, the North continues to experience the highest concentrations of disadvantage.

Persistent Deprivation Across the North

The report highlights that some areas have remained among the most deprived nationally for two decades. These include parts of Liverpool, Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Rochdale, and East Lancashire, where local neighbourhoods consistently rank in the top 1% most deprived in England. This persistence matters because it signals entrenched disadvantage that cannot be solved by short-term interventions. The latest figures show that 58% of the nation’s neighbourhood ranked in the top 10% for deprivation are in the North of England.

Regional Comparisons

The North East has the highest proportion of neighbourhoods in the most deprived decile nationally, with 32.1% of its Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) falling into this category. The North West follows closely at 29%, and Yorkshire and the Humber at 26.5%. By contrast, the South East and South West have less than 12% of their areas in the most deprived decile. London sits in the middle, with significant deprivation in inner boroughs but offset by more affluent areas.

This means that deprivation in the North is not only more widespread but also more concentrated, affecting large sections of communities and neighbourhoods rather than isolated pockets.

Domain-Specific Challenges

Income and employment deprivation remain the most pressing issues in the North, particularly in towns such as Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, and Blackpool. Health deprivation is also severe, with Liverpool and Blackpool ranking among the worst nationally for health outcomes. Educational attainment continues to lag behind in places like Middlesbrough and Bradford, while crime rates are disproportionately high in urban centres such as Manchester and Middlesbrough.

These patterns show that deprivation is multi-dimensional. Poor housing conditions, low incomes, and poor health outcomes reinforce each other, creating a cycle that is difficult to break without coordinated action.

Housing and Living Environment in the North

The IMD 2025 shows that housing and living environment deprivation is a significant challenge across the North of England. These domains together account for 18.6% of the overall IMD score, with Barriers to Housing and Services weighted at 9.3% and Living Environment Deprivation also at 9.3%. More than 40% of the neighbourhoods ranked in the most deprived decile for living environment nationally are in the North, and rural areas in North Yorkshire and the North East record some of the highest scores for barriers to housing and services due to long distances to GPs, schools, and shops. Urban centres such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Bradford rank poorly for housing quality, reflecting older housing stock and higher rates of homes without central heating, while coastal towns like Blackpool and Hartlepool face severe issues linked to substandard housing and environmental hazards. These patterns underline the link between poor housing, health outcomes, and economic disadvantage, making housing quality and accessibility critical priorities for regeneration and policy intervention.

Change Over Time

Although all regions have seen slight increases in deprivation since 2004, the North remains disproportionately affected. Between 2019 and 2025, around 28–30% of neighbourhoods in the North East and North West moved into a more deprived decile, while only a small proportion improved. Across England, 51% of areas stayed in the same decile, underlining the persistence of disadvantage. London saw the largest improvement, with 30% of its areas moving to a less deprived decile, but this is not the case for the North.

In Conclusion

The IMDs show the challenge of persistent deprivation, including in many of the areas our members work in. They also highlight the importance of both housing supply and housing quality in tackling disadvantage. Government policy, including recent commitments to improve housing standards and increase supply, will hopefully begin to address these issues. However, the need for comprehensive regeneration remains urgent, as many communities continue to experience entrenched deprivation that short-term measures alone cannot resolve.