McGowan v Potter [2026] EWHC 595 (Ch)
It is not often that it is the enforcement of a Judgment which reaches the national headlines. Amongst the high value, highly publicised he-said she-said Trials of the High Courts, the questions of whether Judgments have in fact ever paid are very rarely reported on. It is with interest therefore that we now see a case regarding a neighbour dispute which has resulted in enforcement action causing one neighbour to ultimately become evicted from her own home and headline in most mainstream media news platforms.
The previously heard case of McGowan v Potter involved two neighbours embroiled in a parking dispute over land between their homes. Both neighbours owned semi-detached properties which shared a driveway between them, over which they were both entitled to vehicular access to their garages located behind both properties.
Kirsten McGowan was already living in her home in Croydon, South London, when Marie Potter and her family moved into their neighbouring property in 1998. The two women are said to have originally got on rather well. But it was once Mrs Potter’s son passed his driving test and obtained his own vehicle that a dispute arose over Mrs Potter’s parking blocking access to the garages behind their shared driveway.
Mrs Potter maintained that she had always parked her Ford Focus car in front of her property without complaint, where Mrs McGowan averred that this ongoing parking effectively blocked the accessway to the rear garages and prevented their own ability to park. That dispute was brought to final hearing at Bromley County Court in 2020 where Judgment was ultimately awarded in favour of Mrs McGowan’s claim. That judgment award totalled around £30,000.00 plus a further £27,000 (together “the Judgment Sum”) towards Mrs McGowan’s incurred legal costs of bringing the claim to Court.
Enforcement action on neighbour dispute
When Mrs Potter failed to make payment of the Judgment Sum awarded some months later, Mrs McGowan took further enforcement action against her in 2021.
Mrs McGowan obtained a legal charge against Mrs Potter’s property, to secure the Judgment Debt owed to her which had at that time increased to a sum of over £70,000.00, with interest continuing to accrue. When that increased Judgment Debt and legal charge were still not satisfied some time later, Mrs McGowan proceeded to submit a successful application for an Order for Sale and a possession order, to seek payment of the Judgment Sum. The possession order being granted meant that Mrs Potter was evicted from her property, in order that it could be sold on the open market and its equity used to make payment towards the unpaid Judgment Sum.
While Mrs Potter has recently sought to appeal that decision and reoccupy her home, her appeal action was dismissed with Mrs McGowan’s enforcement action and order for sale being upheld and continuing.
The Order for Sale stated that the property should be sold for not less than £575,000 and that Mrs McGowan’s representatives were to take conduct of that sale. Three years later, Mrs Potter’s home has still not been sold at the price ordered, and so Mrs McGowan’s Judgment Debt remains unpaid, with interest continuing to accrue daily on the debt she owes, until her property is sold.
In closing, it is important to the note the Judge’s comments in the Judgment of this case that “This is yet another cautionary tale about the financial consequences of neighbour disputes for those without deep pockets.”
How Gardner Leader can assist with your neighbour dispute
We have extensive experience in advising neighbours who find themselves in similar positions, where access rights or boundary encroachments and trespasses are causing severe distress and disruptions between neighbours. In heeding the Judge’s remarks in this case, we would always first advise neighbours to seek to settle their disputes amicably and early, and we can assist and advise in facilitating this, with Court intervention being a final straw given the potentially grave and costly consequences. Speak with Annabelle Randell to discuss your dispute here.