A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in homes only several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that previously connected them.

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

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Data from government figures shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times across little more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

The spread of poverty has coincided with a significant rise in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to key amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
• The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the rusted barricade.

Community Spirit Amidst Challenges

Within a local community centre, workers emphasise that need transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit 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. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”

The economic divide is evident: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.