The Law Society's 2026 Edition of the Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Land, released on 2 March 2026, becomes the only compliant form for residential contracts and option agreements exchanged on or after 1 June 2026. A clause-by-clause read of what changed: the revised cooling-off notice, the rewritten clauses 28 and 29, the new disclosure items, and why the 2022 edition stops being safe to use after 31 May.
On 2 March 2026 the Law Society of New South Wales released the 2026 Edition of the Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Land, the first refresh of the standard form since the 2022 edition. For now both editions are in circulation. That ends on 1 June 2026: from that date, residential contracts and option agreements must carry the revised cooling-off notice, and the 2022 form is no longer compliant. The window to keep using the old contract closes on 31 May.
The review was prompted by the Conveyancing and Real Property Amendment Act 2025, which commenced mainly on 15 August 2025 and extended the cooling-off and vendor-disclosure regime so that it now reaches options to compel a purchase ('put options') and not only call options to purchase. The standard form had to follow.
The cooling-off notice
The headline change is the smallest on the page. The prescribed cooling-off notice in clause 3(d) has had the words 'to purchase the property' deleted, so the notice reads correctly whether the instrument is a contract, a call option or a put option. It is a three-word edit with a hard deadline behind it: a residential contract or option exchanged on or after 1 June 2026 that still carries the old wording uses a notice that no longer matches the prescribed form.
Clauses 28 and 29 rewritten
The clauses dealing with electronic and conditional completion were redrafted following the Supreme Court's decision in Ahmau Developments Pty Ltd v Preet. Clause 29 no longer applies where clause 28 already applies, which removes an overlap that had produced inconsistent outcomes. Across clauses 12, 24, 28 and 29 the older standard 'everything reasonable' has been standardised to 'whatever is reasonably necessary': a deliberate tightening of the obligation language to a single, tested formulation.
Disclosure and inclusions
- Vendor disclosure (page 4): Sydney Water document references updated, strata-scheme terminology corrected, and a new item 58 covering documents for exclusive supply networks (embedded electricity, internet and similar arrangements).
- Inclusions (page 1): 'TV antenna' is replaced by 'internet/TV receiver', and 'solar power battery' is added, the schedule catching up with how houses are actually fitted out.
- Foreign resident capital gains withholding: the contract reflects the current 15% rate with no minimum price threshold, so a clearance certificate is now relevant to every vendor (covered in our separate briefing).
What this means in practice
For matters exchanging before 1 June, either edition is available, and there is no obligation to re-paper a contract already on foot. For anything exchanging from 1 June onward, the contract should be the 2026 edition with the revised notice. The practical risk is at the margins: a contract drafted in May and signed in early June, a template that hasn't been updated, an option granted now that completes later. Those are exactly the documents worth checking against the date.
If you are buying or selling residential property over the change-over, the question to put to whoever is preparing your contract is simple: is this the 2026 edition, and does the cooling-off notice match the prescribed form? On any contract we draft or review through this period, that check is built in.
On a matter related to this?
The general information in this briefing isn't a substitute for advice tailored to your circumstances. If you're working on a conveyancing matter and want a partner's view, get in touch.