A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once connected them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of official statistics reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.
The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the poorest areas adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life.
- The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
- Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.
Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within a local community centre, staff stress that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”
The economic gap is clear: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said holistic health worker 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 ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.
