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

In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy properties just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them.

“It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”

A Stark Pattern Across the Country

Data from official figures shows how deep inequality can run, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

This spread of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the number of locations where deprived and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical division; it causes very real problems for daily routines.

• The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
• Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
• The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.

“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded barricade.

Local Bonds Amidst Hardship

Within a local community centre, workers stress that need does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.

Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent

This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment.

“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”

The financial gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.

Locals speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”

The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.