🔗 Share this article A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in Across England. Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” A Stark Pattern Across the Country Data from official figures shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of councils now have a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the nation. This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp increase in the number of locations where deprived and affluent residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines. The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey. Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other issues. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall. Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges At a local community centre, staff emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director Tracey Good. Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment. “They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial 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. Residents describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.” The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more divided society, where wealth and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.
Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously connected them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” A Stark Pattern Across the Country Data from official figures shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of councils now have a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the nation. This geographical widening of poverty has led to a sharp increase in the number of locations where deprived and affluent residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines. The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey. Reaching key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other issues. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall. Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Challenges At a local community centre, staff emphasise that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director Tracey Good. Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and living environment. “They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The financial 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. Residents describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.” The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more divided society, where wealth and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.