The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.

In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

A Stark National Picture

Analysis of official figures shows how deep disparity often exists, at times across little more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.

The spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off residents end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic division; 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 key amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

Within Centre4, staff emphasise that support transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive a community leader.

Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

The economic divide is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.

Locals speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly close neighbours.