A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of official figures shows the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes over little more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.
The spread of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the number of places where deprived and well-off people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic division; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.
- School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
- Reaching key amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.
“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.
Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial gap is clear: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly in close proximity.
