A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.

In Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of government figures reveals how deep disparity often exists, sometimes over little more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant rise in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is hindered.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and other issues.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

Within Centre4, staff stress that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive a community leader.

Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people over there never even talk to each other.”

The financial gap is evident: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are related to poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated society, where wealth and need are often uncomfortably in close proximity.