The information vacuum at Taylor Wimpey over the progress of rescue talks with its lenders was making analysts particularly twitchy this week.

Amid a palpable darkening in the City’s mood over the fate of the housebuilder, one said: “Every day that goes past now without a deal is a problem for Taylor Wimpey. I’m starting to fear for its survival.”

Another said: “It may get an agreement but the fact is that it hasn’t yet. Investors will remember the time in June when it announced a £500m fundraising deal but failed to get it done.”

The pessimism sent its share price down towards the 10p mark, where it has been hovering for days. That gives Taylor Wimpey a market cap of about £120m, or roughly a third of Bovis Homes, which sold nine times fewer homes than Taylor Wimpey in 2007.

Maybe it’s the onset of winter, but the gloomy mood is starkly at odds with the cool pragmatism from those close to the talks. “The bottom line is that there’s nothing wrong with Taylor Wimpey,” said one this week.

Another said: “The lack of information from Taylor Wimpey means analysts are drawing their own conclusions. They are making a lot of noise but you have to remember the company still has plenty of time to get this deal done.”