A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall literally divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of official figures shows how deep inequality can run, sometimes over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.
This spread of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.
- The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
- Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
- The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At Centre4, staff emphasise that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said chief executive a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic gap is evident: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000.
Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly divided society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.
