A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in Across England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy properties just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Data from official figures shows how deep inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
This geographical widening of poverty has led to a significant increase in the number of locations where deprived and well-off residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Space
In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the UK and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a symbolic division; it creates tangible problems for daily routines.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Reaching important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
- The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At Centre4, workers emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is evident: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities 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 England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.