A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark Pattern Across the Country

Data from government statistics shows how deep inequality often exists, sometimes over little more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.

This geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes tangible problems for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
• Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

Within Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director a community leader.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”

The financial divide is evident: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Residents describe a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.