🔗 Share this article The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England. In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them. “It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government statistics reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country. This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it causes very real difficulties for everyday life. The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour. Access to important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered. The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other issues. “You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall. Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges At a local community centre, staff emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said director a community leader. Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% overall. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment. “They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000. Locals speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them. “It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country Analysis of government statistics reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country. This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it causes very real difficulties for everyday life. The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour. Access to important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered. The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other issues. “You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall. Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges At a local community centre, staff emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said director a community leader. Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% overall. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment. “They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000. Locals speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.