A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.

In Nunsthorpe, residents live in homes just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.

“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country

Data from official statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes across little more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.

The spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The wall is much more than a metaphorical 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.
• Access to key services like grocery stores, educational facilities and care homes is hindered.
• The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and other issues.

“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.

Community Spirit Amidst Challenges

At a local community centre, staff stress that support transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.

Despite ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford

This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.

“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 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 average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.

Locals speak of 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 slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly segregated society, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly close neighbours.