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

Within Nunsthorpe, residents occupy homes just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from government statistics shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times over little more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

This geographical widening of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the number of locations where deprived and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a symbolic division; it causes very real difficulties for everyday life.

• The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
• Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

At a local community centre, workers emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have larger properties, 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 divide is evident: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes fetch about £410,000.

Residents speak of a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.