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

In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them.

“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”

An Increasingly Common National Picture

Analysis of government statistics shows how deep inequality can run, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.

The spread of poverty has led to a sharp increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.

A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space

At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.

• School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long journey.
• Access to key services like grocery stores, educational facilities and care homes is hindered.
• The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues.

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

Local Bonds Amidst Challenges

At a local community centre, staff stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive a community leader.

Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.

A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford

This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses 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,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”

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

Residents describe a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”

The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.