A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.

Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes only several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade physically separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that once connected them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of government figures shows how deep disparity often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and underinvestment 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.

This spread of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
• Access to key amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
• The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems.

“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained director a community leader.

Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial divide is evident: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes fetch about £410,000.

Locals describe a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly divided England, where wealth and need are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.