The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in Across England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that previously connected them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, 37. “It’s been like this for as long as 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 Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government figures shows the extent of inequality can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.
The geographical widening of poverty has led to a significant rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
- Access to key amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
- The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other problems.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.
Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges
Within Centre4, staff stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties go for about £410,000.
Locals speak of a palpable sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an increasingly segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.