John B ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying :

Ideally, I'd levy CGT on house value increases in the same way that it
applies to all other investments

wince
I can certainly see - and don't necessarily disagree with - the concept,
but... ouch...

£8,800/year tax free, 20% on anything above that or 40% for higher rate tax
payers.

So - a not completely atypical example...
You bought your house 10 years ago for £150,000. It's now worth £400,000.
That's £250,000 gain in value over 10 years, so £88,000 allowance.
£162,000 taxable gain.

You currently earn £35,000/year, so you're a higher rate taxpayer.

You come to sell your house.

But you just plain can't afford to because you're going to have to find 40%
of £162,000 - £64,800 - just to pay Gordon. And that's on top of all the
other costs of moving house. You can't take it out of the house sale
proceeds, because you've got to buy another house with them.