A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.

Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes only several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that once connected 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 bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from official statistics reveals the extent of disparity often exists, at times over little more than a few metres 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 contain a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.

The spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
• The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems.

“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

At a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial divide is evident: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Residents describe a palpable feeling of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an ever more divided England, where wealth and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.