A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.
Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 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.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government figures shows how deep disparity can run, sometimes over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.
The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it creates tangible difficulties for daily routines.
- The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to key services like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports 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.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive a community leader.
Despite ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.
A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial divide is clear: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably close neighbours.
