A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in Across England.

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that previously linked them.

“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of disparity can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country.

The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines.

• The school commute that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute detour.
• Access to important services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.

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

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

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

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic divide is evident: an average three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000.

Residents describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more divided society, where wealth and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.