The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in Across England.

Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides 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,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as 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 Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of inequality often exists, at times over little more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.

The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space

In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
• Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.

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

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship

Within a local community centre, workers emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader.

Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

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

Residents describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.