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

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high barricade physically separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as 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 shows the extent of inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country.

This geographical widening of poverty has led to a significant rise in the number of locations where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land

In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic division; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life.

• The school commute that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute journey.
• Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.

Community Spirit Amidst Hardship

Within a local community centre, staff stress that need transcends addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.

Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment.

“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people over there never even talk to each other.”

The financial gap is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000.

Residents describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly in close proximity.