The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country
Data from government figures reveals the extent of disparity often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.
The spread of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates tangible problems for daily routines.
- School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long journey.
- Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At Centre4, workers emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial gap is clear: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.