A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in Across England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy properties only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high wall physically separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.

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

A Stark National Picture

Data from government statistics shows how deep inequality often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.

The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land

In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and starkly obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.

• The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long journey.
• Reaching important services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems.

“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges

At a local community centre, workers stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic gap is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent homes fetch about £410,000.

Residents describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.