A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in Across England.

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties just a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.

“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

This spread of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the number of locations where deprived and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes very real problems for daily routines.

• School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute detour.
• Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

Within Centre4, workers emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial divide is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “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 increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly in close proximity.