A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in Across England.

Within Nunsthorpe, residents occupy homes just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that previously connected them.

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

A Stark National Picture

Data from government figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space

In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes tangible problems for daily routines.

• The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
• Access to key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, motioning at the rusted barricade.

Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship

Within Centre4, staff stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

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 residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area 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 houses built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

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

Locals speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.