The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall wall literally divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from official figures reveals how deep disparity can run, at times over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation.
This spread of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of locations where deprived and well-off people end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates very real problems for everyday life.
- The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long detour.
- Access to important amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other issues.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the rusted barricade.
Local Bonds Amidst Challenges
Within a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader.
Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable properties go for about £410,000.
Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more divided society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.
