A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England.

In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that previously connected them.

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

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Data from government figures reveals the extent of inequality often exists, at times over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

This spread of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to important services like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues.

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

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

Within Centre4, staff stress that need does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director a community leader.

Despite ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic gap is clear: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable properties go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.