A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of government figures shows how deep inequality often exists, at times over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation.

The geographical widening of poverty has led to a significant rise in the number of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical division; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life.

• The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
• Access to important amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
• The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.

“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship

At Centre4, staff stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.

Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

The economic divide is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties go for about £410,000.

Residents speak of a palpable feeling of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”

The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.