Praise be to Allaah.
When a person buys land, one of three scenarios must apply:
1 – That which is intended for living on. This is not subject
to zakaah, because it is not for trade or business.
2 – He buys the land with the aim of selling it and seeking
to make a profit from it. This comes under the heading of trade goods if one
full (hijri) year passes. Then he should see how much it is worth when the
year has passed, and pay one quarter of one tenth of its value at the time
when the year has passed.
3 – When he wants the land that he buys as an investment, so
that he can develop it by building shops or apartment buildings to rent them
out. No zakaah is due on the land itself, rather zakaah is due on its
revenue. If he receives in rent money that passes the nisaab (minimum
threshold), and one year has passed since the rental contract was drawn up,
then he must pay zakaah on it. End quote.
Al-Muntaqa min Fataawa al-Fawzaan
(2/309).
And Allaah knows best.