When Taylor Wimpey fell out of the FTSE 100 in March, it was not unexpected but still a shock in symbolic terms.

Was the construction industry really faring so badly against the caterers, retailers and travel agents that had stayed in?

Well, if that wasn't a bad enough, it has now dropped out of the FTSE 250 - the secondary tier of 250 companies that sits behind the top 100 firms by market cap in the country.

According to FTSE figures, it was ranked 450 yesterday evening, sealing its fate and second fall from grace.

Barratt, meanwhile, breathes again. It ended the day on which companies are promoted or relegated in 353rd spot. The quirks of the Stock Market mean a company has to finish in 376th spot or below at the end of each quarter to be relegated out of the FTSE 250.

As Taylor Wimpey's future appears to hang by a thread, one person close to the debt talks said politics would play an equally important role as economics in deciding its fate .

"Taylor Wimpey isn't going anywhere," he said. "The government won't let it happen because it would be a political disaster. If its future was in serious doubt, its bankers would get a tap on the shoulder and be invited along to a meeting at the Treasury. Then they'd be reminded how they had to be helped out - and by who."