🔗 Share this article The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England. In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy properties just a few metres from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them. “This is 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 take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Data from government statistics shows the extent of inequality can run, at times over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country. The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of locations where deprived and affluent residents find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines. School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey. Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the rusted barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges At Centre4, staff emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive a community leader. Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings. “They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable properties fetch about £410,000. Residents describe a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy properties just a few metres from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them. “This is 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 take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Data from government statistics shows the extent of inequality can run, at times over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country. The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of locations where deprived and affluent residents find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines. School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey. Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the rusted barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges At Centre4, staff emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive a community leader. Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings. “They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable properties fetch about £410,000. Residents describe a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.