The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy properties only several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take 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 shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.
This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic division; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
- Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other issues.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At Centre4, staff emphasise that need transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there never even talk to each other.”
The financial divide is clear: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.
Residents describe a palpable feeling of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.
