A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark National Picture

Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of disparity often exists, at times over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.

This geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp rise in the number of locations where deprived and well-off residents end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Land

In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates tangible difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long detour.
• Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and other issues.

“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

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

Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”

The economic divide is clear: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.