It is in the long-term interest both of the banks (and therefore the State) and the borrowers that the banks continue to ramp-up their capacity to engage with and process such debtors in order to determine, on the basis of actual and prospective income, what repayment they can realistically be expected to service fully, repossessing the collateral where necessary.
While this may involve the banks in having to manage a portfolio of repossessed buy-to-let properties, this is not an insurmountable task and should in any event facilitate the improved functioning of the property market and getting closer to a market-clearing price by bringing to the market (in an orderly and managed way) many of those properties which at present are implicitly hanging over it as an excess supply.