A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.
In Nunsthorpe, residents live in homes just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from official statistics reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country.
The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it creates very real problems for everyday life.
- School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to important amenities like supermarkets, schools and care homes is hindered.
- The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.
Local Bonds Amidst Hardship
Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford
This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial divide is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000.
Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly close neighbours.
