Shared furniture and appliances: how to split them, and what to pay someone who leaves

Three of you chip in for a fridge, a washing machine and a sofa. Two years later one person moves out. Do they take the fridge? Get their money back? Nothing? Here’s a simple, fair way to answer that before it turns into an argument.

By the ttmm team · Updated 4 Nov 2026 · 6 min read

The problem nobody plans for

Unfurnished flats in Indian cities usually mean buying the same things: a fridge, a washing machine, a sofa or bean bags, a mattress or two, a water purifier, an induction or gas stove, a microwave, curtains and kitchen basics. That is easily ₹50,000–₹1,00,000 for a flat. Splitting the purchase is easy. The hard part comes later, because people leave at different times, and you can’t cut a fridge into three.

When the first flatmate leaves, three questions come up at once: who owns what, what is it worth now, and who pays the person leaving. If you have a rule for each, the whole thing takes ten minutes.

Rule 1: Record who paid for what, on the day you buy it

Ownership follows money. If three people each paid a third of the fridge, each owns a third. If one person paid for the TV alone, it’s theirs, even if it sits in the hall. Write it down when you buy, with the date and the price, and keep a photo of the invoice and warranty card. A bill also raises the resale price later.

A single line in the flat’s group is enough: “Fridge, ₹24,000, 12 Oct 2024, A/B/C equal, invoice attached.”

Rule 2: Value things by age, not by what they cost

A two-year-old fridge is not worth what you paid for it, and it is not worth zero either. The simplest fair method is straight-line depreciation: decide how many years an item normally lasts, and it loses an equal share of its price each year.

Value today = Price paid × (Years of life left ÷ Total years of life)

These are rules of thumb many flats use. They aren’t official numbers, so agree your own if your items are unusually cheap or premium:

Items under about ₹1,500 (buckets, a dustbin, a kettle) are usually not worth valuing. Leave them with the flat.

Rule 3: The person leaving is bought out by whoever keeps the item

The leaver gets their share of today’s value. That money comes from the people who keep using the item. If a new flatmate is moving in, they can take over the leaver’s share instead.

Worked example: C moves out after two years

A, B and C bought three things together in October 2024, splitting each equally. C leaves in November 2026, exactly two years later.

C owns a third of everything, so C’s share is ₹42,700 ÷ 3 = ₹14,233. Round it to ₹14,250.

• If nobody replaces C: A and B pay C ₹7,125 each. A and B now own half of each item.
• If D moves into C’s room: D pays C ₹14,250 and owns C’s third. A and B pay nothing. D gets working appliances for a fraction of the new price, and C gets money back. Everybody wins.
• If D doesn’t want to buy in: A and B buy C out as above. D can pay a small monthly usage fee (see below) or nothing at all, as long as everyone agrees up front.

C put in ₹19,000 two years ago and leaves with ₹14,250. That works out to about ₹200 a month for using a fridge, a washing machine and a sofa, which most people think is very fair.

Book value vs. what it would sell for

Second-hand buyers on OLX or Facebook Marketplace usually pay less than the age-based value, often 50–70% of it, because they take the risk and the hassle of moving it. That gap matters:

• When the item stays in the flat and the others keep using it, the age-based value is fairer. They are getting the item, not a stranger.
• When the item is actually being sold, the sale price is the value. Split the money by ownership share.
• If the leaver and stayers can’t agree, take the midpoint between the age-based value and a real listing price for the same model. It ends most arguments.

When one person owns an item that everyone uses

Say A brought their own ₹30,000 TV and put it in the hall. It’s A’s, and A takes it when they leave. Some flats leave it at that. Others pay A a small usage fee, because A’s TV is losing value for everyone’s benefit:

₹30,000 ÷ 7 years ÷ 12 months ≈ ₹357 a month of wear
Split by 3 users ≈ ₹119 each, so B and C each pay A about ₹120 a month

Whether to charge it is a flat decision. What matters is that it’s agreed in the first week, not when A is packing.

Repairs: who pays?

• Routine running costs (servicing, gas refills, filter changes, a new drain pipe) are shared by whoever uses the item, like any bill.
• Big repairs that extend its life (a fridge compressor, a washing machine motor or PCB) are shared by the owners in their ownership share. Add the repair to the item’s value: a ₹6,000 compressor repair on a five-year-old fridge buys it several more years.
• Damage by one person, such as a broken sofa leg after a party, is paid by that person.

When the whole flat breaks up

When everyone is leaving, every item has to be sold, kept by one person, or given away. Two fair ways to decide:

1. Sell and split. List everything a month before you leave. Split the money by ownership share. Anything unsold by the last week goes to whoever wants it, at a fair price agreed between you.
2. Private bids. If two people want the same item, each writes down a price privately. The highest bid wins, and that money is split among the other owners by their share. It’s quick, and nobody feels cheated, because the winner set the price themselves.

Moving costs (packers, a tempo, a mover for the fridge) are paid by whoever takes the item, not the flat.

A message you can send today

Flat 302 shared items (agreed 4 Nov):
• Fridge ₹24,000, washing machine ₹18,000, sofa ₹15,000, all A/B/C equal, bought Oct 2024. Bills are in the group.
• Life for valuation: fridge 10y, washing machine 8y, sofa 6y.
• If someone leaves: the new flatmate or whoever stays pays them their share of today’s value, rounded to ₹50.
• Big repairs are shared by owners, routine costs by users, damage by whoever caused it.
• Personal items (A’s TV) stay personal; no usage fee.

Track it in ttmm

Add each big purchase as an expense in your flat’s group, with the invoice photo and the split. Everyone can see who paid what, years later. When someone leaves, add the buyout as an expense paid by the stayers (or the new flatmate) and split it to the leaver, and ttmm settles it with the rest of their balance. See splitting expenses and history and statements.

Questions

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