Dilapidated housing in the city that is subsidized by the federal government is poised to get a $14 million facelift: The City Council has set aside the funding to repair an estimated 500 apartments in an effort to preserve New York’s “affordable” housing stock, city officials announced yesterday.

Housing developments that are subsidized by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and fall into disrepair face foreclosure, and there is no guarantee that a new landlord would remain in the federal subsidy program and rent the apartments at rates below the market value, city officials said.

“Any time we go out and talk to our constituents, the no. 1 concern we hear is the need for more affordable housing,” the council speaker, Christine Quinn, said. “As the city gets more and more expensive and less and less affordable, as I said, we can’t lose one unit.”

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development already repairs federally subsidized buildings in poor condition. Officials said the repairs have kept 17 buildings comprising more than 2,100 apartments from being sold through public auction, where they might have lost their “affordable” status.

When asked about the contention that preserving “affordable” housing in the city drives up rents for the rest of New Yorkers, Ms. Quinn said the idea is “ridiculous.”

“The times when there are less or no rent protections, rents go up and skyrocket,” she said. “That is a very frequently heard spin put out there by property owners, but I don’t think there’s any truth to that at all.”

The Housing Preservation and Development commissioner, Shaun Donovan, said the city should protect its “affordable” housing and build more housing “to increase the supply to bring down the price for everyone.”