The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.

In Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties only several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 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

Analysis of official statistics reveals how deep disparity often exists, sometimes across little more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding mean a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.

This geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space

In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes very real problems for everyday life.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey.
• Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being thrown 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 Against a Backdrop of Challenges

At Centre4, staff stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% overall.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. 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 spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

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

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

Residents describe a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, 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 England, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably close neighbours.