If you haven't tried this already I would consider doing stories in his bed and then laying next to his bed once it's bedtime. We did that when ours starting getting difficult for bedtime and it worked well. I would lay with him for 45 min, then got that down to 20 min, and now it's more like 5 minutes. He still occasionally gets really upset when I leave his room but I think now in his mind he's developed that trust where he knows I will be there in the morning to get him.
If he still won't go down you may want to do a 'reset' - bring him back into the living room or wherever to quietly play with toys or whatever until he seems more settled and then try again.
You can also play up the 'big boy bed' thing by dropping major hints throughout the day about how he's so big and can sleep on his own in his bed. Also recap the day before bed and play up the things he's done really well that day like playing well, listening etc. so he will want to live up to your expectations. That worked well for us too.
What are his naps like? He may be either overtired or not tired enough for bedtime based on his length of nap.
Are there any relatives that can do bedtime for you for the odd night? I've found it's good to mix it up sometimes and ours behaves way better for grandma/grandpa.
FWIW sleep regression is super common hence the need for sleep consultants.
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