A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

The geographical widening of poverty has led to a significant increase in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it causes tangible difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to key services like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and related problems.

“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, motioning at the rusted metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship

Within a local community centre, staff stress that support transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director a community leader.

Despite ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, 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 sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an ever more divided society, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.