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With some 10,500 Housing Board flats completed in the first eight months of 2024, home owners of these pandemic-delayed homes must feel gratified and relieved ( Sept 2). HDB said the waiting time of flats completed in 2024 ranged from about three to five years, after accounting for hold-ups caused by the pandemic. However, it will take about six years of waiting time for Havelock Hillside in Tiong Bahru and Ulu Pandan Banks in Ghim Moh, both post-pandemic projects launched in 2022 and estimated to be completed in 2028 and 2029 respectively. More manpower and resources should be channelled to hasten the construction of these existing projects, instead of launching so many new projects yearly (26 launched in 2023; 30 in 2024 by October).  Each year of construction delay squanders the fertile years of couples awaiting a home to raise their brood. Many in-laws lack room for newly-weds, and many couples lack the budget to rent a place. It will be difficult to have babies if couples have to raise their infants without a roof over their heads, making it unsurprising that Singapore’s total fertility rate in 2023 was a historic low of 0.97.  Now that most pandemic-delayed homes are fully built, I urge the Ministry of National Development to promptly expedite the two 2022 launches cited.