The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government statistics reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have 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 locations where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines.
- The school commute that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long detour.
- Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
At Centre4, staff emphasise that need transcends addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects 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 economic gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent homes fetch about £410,000.
Locals speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an ever more divided England, where wealth and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.