John Symond says the banks should ease the stringency of checks on home borrower expenses

Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond said the government is putting too much pressure on lenders over stringent customer living expense checks.

He said the housing recovery may be at risk because lenders are "running scared" with about a fifth of customers who would previously have been given loans now being denied for fears if being pursued by regulators.

"I think regulators are going too hard. I think government's got to get involved and say that look we just want to have responsible lending, we don't want to make conditions so easy that anyone can get through," Mr Symond told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"It’s got to the point where lenders and credit people are running scared, you’ve just got to be a bit careful here. We’ve got a very brittle economy, we’re still travelling OK, housing has taken a hit, it’s getting off the ground. Lenders have all been in the firing line of the royal commission," he added.

The remarks come as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is consulting with the banking industry on responsible lending laws.

The chief executive of the Australian Banking Association, Anna Bligh, said she thought ASIC was "going to a great deal of care to get it right" when she commented on responsible lending.

"We need to have strong customer protections, but we don’t want to lock down access to credit to the point where harms the economy,” Ms Bligh said.