A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England.

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there 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

Data from official statistics reveals how deep inequality often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country.

The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the number of locations where deprived and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas 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 divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it causes tangible difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long detour.
• Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.

“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, motioning at the rusted metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

Within a local community centre, staff stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said chief executive a community leader.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area 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 wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely many people over there never even talk to each other.”

The economic gap is clear: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000.

Locals speak of a palpable feeling of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably close neighbours.