A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in homes only several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that once linked them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from official figures shows the extent of disparity can run, at times over little more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.
The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of places where deprived and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a symbolic division; it creates very real problems for daily routines.
- The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to important services like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within Centre4, workers stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness 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 Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial 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 speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an increasingly divided England, where wealth and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.
