A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in Across England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high wall physically divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of official figures shows the extent of disparity can run, at times across little more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.
This spread of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of places where deprived and affluent people end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.
- The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to key services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and related problems.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At a local community centre, staff stress that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable properties go for about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an increasingly segregated society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
