🔗 Share this article The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in Across England. Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in homes just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them. “It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country. This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Land In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic divide; it causes very real problems for everyday life. School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey. Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other problems. “You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, motioning at the rusted metal wall. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship At Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said director Tracey Good. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally. A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings. “They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes fetch about £410,000. Locals describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided society, where wealth and need are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in homes just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them. “It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country. This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Land In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic divide; it causes very real problems for everyday life. School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey. Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other problems. “You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, motioning at the rusted metal wall. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship At Centre4, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said director Tracey Good. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally. A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings. “They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes fetch about £410,000. Locals describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided society, where wealth and need are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.