A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy properties just a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade physically separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Data from official figures shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
The spread of deprivation has led to a significant rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly apparent. The wall 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 sixty-minute detour.
- Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and other issues.
“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
Within a local community centre, workers emphasise that support transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director a community leader.
Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is repeated nationally. 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 houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there never even talk to each other.”
The financial gap is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable properties go for about £410,000.
Residents describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, 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 ever more divided England, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly in close proximity.
