The Compulsory Purchase of Land (Conditional Confirmation) Regulations 2026 set the procedure for bringing a conditionally confirmed compulsory purchase order (CPO) into operation. The instrument implements the framework created by the Levelling‑up and Regeneration Act 2023, which introduced the power to confirm CPOs subject to conditions and envisaged secondary legislation to prescribe the post‑confirmation process, including rights for relevant objectors to make written representations. (legislation.gov.uk)
The Regulations apply in England and Wales to CPOs where the confirming authority is not the Welsh Ministers, and to draft orders prepared by acquiring authorities other than the Welsh Ministers. In practice, most planning‑related CPOs in England will therefore be caught, with decisions ordinarily taken by the Secretary of State (through the Department responsible for housing and planning) or an Inspector acting on their behalf under the Acquisition of Land Act 1981. (legislation.gov.uk)
For non‑Ministerial orders, the acquiring authority may apply in writing to the confirming authority for a decision that the conditions attached to the CPO have been met. The application must include a clear statement of the basis on which the authority considers the conditions are satisfied and may be supported by any additional information the authority deems necessary. This step initiates the conditional‑confirmation discharge process envisaged by section 13BA of the 1981 Act. (publications.parliament.uk)
On receipt of an application, the confirming authority has 10 working days (beginning with the first working day after receipt) to validate or reject it. If accepted, the confirming authority must notify the acquiring authority and, where applicable, each relevant objector, and share the application material with them. If rejected, the confirming authority must give written reasons. This validation stage formalises the gateway test before any consideration of whether conditions have in fact been met.
Where notified, relevant objectors have 15 working days to make written representations on whether the conditions have been met. As soon as reasonably practicable, the confirming authority must copy any representations to the acquiring authority and invite a written response within a further 15 working days (or a longer period if specified). The exchange confines the scope to the question set by the Regulations-compliance with the conditions attached at confirmation-rather than reopening the merits of the original CPO decision.
After the representation periods have closed, the confirming authority may request further information from the acquiring authority, any relevant objector, or both. Requests must be in writing and specify the time allowed to respond. This power is available only after the relevant representation windows have expired, and it allows the confirming authority to test evidence where the discharge of conditions depends on factual documentation such as planning permissions, funding agreements or mitigation deliverables.
In deciding a non‑Ministerial application, the confirming authority must consider information provided through the routes set out in the Regulations and may disregard material supplied by any other means. It must not determine the application until all representation periods and any specified periods for further information have elapsed. This sequencing is designed to give objectors a defined opportunity to be heard on the narrow compliance question while providing certainty about when a decision can lawfully be taken.
Where the confirming authority decides that the conditions have been met, it must issue written notice with reasons to the acquiring authority and each relevant objector. The notice must also remind the acquiring authority of the statutory duty to serve a copy of the order and a fulfilment notice on those who were required to be notified under section 12 of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981, and to affix near the land and publish the fulfilment notice. The fulfilment notice is the statutory trigger that makes a conditionally confirmed CPO operative once the conditions are discharged, as introduced by the 2023 Act. (legislation.gov.uk)
A separate route applies to Ministerial orders (where the acquiring authority is a Minister). Before the Minister can decide that conditions are met, the ‘appropriate authority’ must complete a written consideration of the material, and the Minister must prepare a statement setting out the basis on which the conditions are said to be satisfied. Relevant objectors may make written representations to the Minister within 15 working days and the appropriate authority may request further information. The Minister must take the appropriate authority’s written consideration into account and may adopt it as the Minister’s decision. (legislation.gov.uk)
The term ‘relevant objector’ follows the definitions inserted into the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 by the 2023 Act. Parliament required that regulations prescribing the application procedure must include notice to each relevant objector and an opportunity for written representations. The new instrument gives effect to that requirement in a time‑limited and document‑led way. (publications.parliament.uk)
For acquiring authorities and scheme promoters, the practical effect is the creation of a discrete post‑confirmation phase focused on evidencing compliance with stated conditions. Project teams should assemble a single, audit‑ready bundle supporting each condition-planning approvals, funding confirmations, legal agreements and any environmental or mitigation deliverables-so that the application can pass the confirming authority’s 10‑day validation test and withstand the representation window. Authorities should also plan for the service and publication steps associated with fulfilment notices once compliance is confirmed. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
For affected landowners and objectors, the Regulations provide a defined route to challenge whether conditions have in fact been met, but they do not reopen the original merits of the CPO. The focus is on the evidence that the specified prerequisites-set at the point of conditional confirmation-are discharged. Once a fulfilment notice is served and published in accordance with the 1981 Act as amended, the CPO becomes operative and the acquisition route (notice to treat or general vesting declaration) may proceed in the usual way. (legislation.gov.uk)