🔗 Share this article A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England. Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them. “This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” A Stark Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times over little more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest 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 find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Divides More Than Space In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines. The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Access to important services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems. “You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good. Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment. “They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.” The financial divide is clear: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent homes fetch about £410,000. Locals speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “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’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.
Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them. “This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” A Stark Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times over little more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest 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 find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Divides More Than Space In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines. The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Access to important services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems. “You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good. Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment. “They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.” The financial divide is clear: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent homes fetch about £410,000. Locals speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “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’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.