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

Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.

“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from official statistics shows the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant rise in the quantity of places where deprived and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land

In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates tangible problems for daily routines.

• The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long detour.
• Reaching key amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
• The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.

“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.

Community Spirit Amidst Hardship

Within a local community centre, workers emphasise that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said chief executive a community leader.

Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people over there never even talk to each other.”

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

Residents describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.