The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade physically separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once connected them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there since 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 Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of disparity often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country.

The spread of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a symbolic divide; it causes very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
• Reaching important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
• The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related problems.

“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

Within a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic divide is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes fetch about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more divided England, where wealth and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.