🔗 Share this article A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England. In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Data from government figures shows the extent of disparity can run, at times over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest areas adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life. School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems. “You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Amidst Challenges At a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader. Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings. “They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial divide is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000. Residents describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Data from government figures shows the extent of disparity can run, at times over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest areas adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life. School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult. The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems. “You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade. Local Bonds Amidst Challenges At a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader. Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings. “They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial divide is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000. Residents describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.