A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Analysis of government figures reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it causes tangible problems for daily routines.

• The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long detour.
• Access to key amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is hindered.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems.

“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges

Within Centre4, staff stress that support transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.

Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic divide is evident: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and need are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.